Know Your Rights
by megamatt09
Summary: Revamped. A couple of chance encounters on Harry's initial trip to Diagon Alley causes him to ask questions of a world that doesn't like questions being asked of it. Blatantly and obviously AU.
1. Chapter 1

**So, the original copy of this, I took down, for numerous reasons. I revamped things very much to something I think that I would enjoy writing. It's still mostly Harry Potter related, like more than nine tenths related. I figured that it would be best to roll things back and build things from the beginning of Harry's time in that world, as opposed to in the middle of the game. Plus, it causes me not to have to bother with shelving certain pieces of baggage that's weighing Harry down. **

**I have to write something that I can get behind writing. Otherwise, nothing will be written.  
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><p><strong>Chapter One: A Chance Encounter. <strong>

Harry Potter had many questions. He knew from his existence at the Dursleys that adults didn't like having questions asked of them, especially when it was at the expense of poking holes through their often faulty logic. Hagrid was polite, but it was obvious that he was not at ease with asking that many questions. And Harry doubted that Hagrid had the answers that he was seeking anyway.

The answers laid with this Dumbledore guy that kept coming up. He was the Headmaster of the School and an extremely important wizard. Far as Harry could tell, he was like Merlin and Jesus all rolled into one, or at least that's how Hagrid was putting him over.

Harry figured that Hagrid might have a slight case of hero worship. Hagrid left for a little pick me up at the pub. Having lived with Uncle Vernon and having been forced to endure his Aunt Marge far too many times, Harry knew what that was a code word for.

The young man stepped into Madam Malkin's robe shop and looked around. A squat looking woman was waiting on a young girl who looked around Harry's age. She had blonde hair that shined in the sunlight and a pair of hazel eyes. She looked fairly bored.

"Hogwarts too, dear?" the woman, Madam Malkin Harry presumed, asked. "Just have a seat, my dear, this young lady is just about to wrap up."

Harry had a seat next to the young girl. She turned towards him, calmly and carefully.

"Hello, nice day outside, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," Harry answered. He had not talked to many girls around his age or many children period, so this was a new experience for him.

"My name is Daphne Greengrass," the girl commented. She turned to extend her hand for him to shake.

"Harry Potter," Harry replied.

The only reaction she gave was the momentary widening of her eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you Harry. I heard that you would be coming to Hogwarts this year. But I think anyone who could do the match figured that out."

Her eyes snapped towards his for a second. She stared at him, not realizing what she was doing.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked her. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Yes, your mother's eyes," Daphne answered briskly. "It's really rare for a male wizard to have his mother's eyes, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," Harry commented. That was news to him.

"That means that you're extremely powerful," Daphne said. She wasn't a bookworm by any means, but she was well-read. "I don't think that you look too much like your father."

"That's not what the people inside the pub said," Harry said.

Daphne snorted. "I take it that the rumors that you were raised by Muggles were true."

"Yes, my aunt and uncle," Harry responded. Daphne didn't press the issue any further, which he was grateful for.

"Then, Harry, you should know that most magical users deal with the most simplistic explanation," Daphne said. "We enjoy our traditions and don't like to change things. You know, if it's not broke, don't fix it."

Harry allowed that to all sink in. He was so distracted by the magic and wonder of a brand new world that didn't involve the Dursleys that he neglected to see that the people there were in fact people. They just had a few special gifts, but were prone to mistakes just as much as the next person.

Hagrid's comments about the Ministry of Magic took on an interesting new twist.

"We'll almost done, sorry for the wait, dear," Madam Malkin said.

Daphne waved her hand. Her mother and sister were doing some shopping down the street, so they wouldn't be meeting up until another few minutes anyway.

The door opened and another two individuals entered. One of them was a tall blonde woman with her hair tied back, wearing some rather elegant robes. The second was a girl that was also close to Harry's age. Her golden blonde hair tied back and she wore a pair of glasses. She wore a red button up blouse and a nice flowing blue skirt down to her legs, along with a pair of red high heel boots. A pair of glasses added the final piece to the outfit, showcasing her dazzling blue eyes from the other side of her face.

"Hello," the girl said in a bright voice.

"It's a bit slow today, but then again this is our busy time," Madam Malkin muttered to herself. She would have to dust off that help wanted sign to put in the front of the shop. It didn't help that her assistant quit just this week without any notice. "Miss Greengrass, your order is done, and since your mother has prepaid for it, you can take it."

"Thank you, Madam Malkin," Daphne answered.

The second girl took Daphne's seat beside Harry. She eyed him with interest.

"It's a long wait here, isn't it?" she asked him.

"It is," Harry agreed.

"My name is Kara, Kara Danvers, that's my mother, she's the new professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts," the blonde said, pointing her out.

"I'm Harry Potter," Harry answered.

"Oh, you are?" Kara asked with interest. She looked him over. "I thought that you'd be taller for some reason."

Harry couldn't help but crack a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Harry," the woman with Kara responded. "It's been a long time since both of us have seen you, although Kara doesn't quite remember it."

"Wait, I know you?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and…..it was a tragic day when your mother died," the woman responded. She closed her eyes and sighed when she shook her head. "Your father as well, even though I wasn't really friends with him. We got along well enough."

The woman looked on in a far off manner. Kara frowned, she had never seen her mother like that.

"And you got sent to live with your relatives, no one knew where you were until years later," the woman added. She frowned. "You'd think that I would be given some kind of notice, I am your godmother after all."

"Wait, you are?" Harry asked.

"Yes," the woman agreed. She smiled. "Alura Danvers, I was Lily's best friend. Kara and I were overseas for a long time, after the Ministry denied my appeal for custody. They claimed that the records were sealed."

Andromeda and Alura must have fought that for over five years, but they claimed that Dumbledore was given power of attorney of the Potter estate and Harry's custody. They could find nothing to disprove it, along with nothing to prove it.

Harry couldn't fault Alura for what happened. She appeared to be as frustrated as everything.

The conversation ceased when Madam Malkin came out to take Harry and Kara's measurements. The two of them sat calmly and waited.

"Your robes will be ready in a few moments," Madam Malkin said with a smile.

"I really wish that I fought harder in the first place," Alura answered. She seemed apologetic. "But the only person who can request the Potter family will is a Potter himself. Until then, Dumbledore can claim that he has power of attorney over your custody."

"So, it was Dumbledore who sent me to the Dursleys?" Harry asked.

"He thought that you'd be the safest there," Alura answered. She noticed a shift in Harry's body language. She worked with young children in her job overseas and she had a doctorate in child psychology. She had a pretty good idea when a child was mistreated or even abused. "You weren't mistreated there?"

Harry shifted for a moment.

"Let's not talk about this here," Alura said suddenly. She realized that this was best done in a more private area.

"Oh, those look tacky," Kara groaned when she looked at the robes.

"Sorry, standard Hogwarts issue," Madam Malkin said. She agreed that the Hogwarts robes weren't the best designed work, but it was the design that they wanted. "And there you are, dear."

Harry got out his gold to pay, but Alura shook her head.

"No, Harry, I'll take care of it, consider it a late Birthday present," Alura replied. Harry was about ready to protest. "No, I insist."

"You shouldn't argue with my mother," Kara whispered to him. "Trust me, she's stubborn."

Kara shuddered and smiled. She couldn't believe that she would have to go to Hogwarts, but she supposed that it wouldn't be too bad.

"You have questions, I'm sure," Alura whispered to Harry. "And I have answers that you deserve."

Harry wondered what other bombshells she could drop on him. Finding out that he was a wizard turned his world upside down more than enough. Finding out that he had a godmother was also some news for him.

Kara and Harry took their purchases and Alura followed them outside of the shop. They didn't get too far, when they saw Daphne standing outside. She stood next to a woman who could only be her mother and a young girl that was a head shorter than Daphne and about a year younger by the looks of him.

"Hello, you're the young man who Daphne met inside the shop, aren't you?" the woman asked.

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter," Harry replied. One could hear the young girl groan by her mother's side and Daphne turn towards her younger sister with a smug smile on her face.

"Pay up, Astoria."

Astoria just blew all of her pocket money for a month on a bet that her sister was lying to her about meeting Harry Potter. She shoved it into Daphne's hands, with a sour look on her face.

"Astoria, your face will freeze that way if you keep it up," Daphne teased her sister.

"How about I hex you so…"

"Astoria," the woman said in a reprimanding voice and that caused her daughter to fall back into line.

Kara placed her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. Until her mother gave her the Mom look and she had no choice, but to cease.

"This is my younger daughter Astoria, you've met Daphne, and my name is Anastasia Greengrass," the woman said. She greeted Harry with a firm handshake.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Greengrass," Harry commented.

"So, were you here with someone, Harry?" Anastasia asked.

"I was here with Hagrid, you know the Hogwarts gamekeeper," Harry replied. One could see Alura wrinkle her nose.

"You mean that big hairy guy that was getting drunk in the bar," Kara answered. That caused Harry to raise his eyebrow.

"So, he was off drinking when he was supposed to be looking after you?" Alura asked. She eyed Harry for a few seconds and he nodded. "No, it's not your fault."

Almost on cue, Hagrid was making his way towards Harry, with a pair of ice creams in his hand. He stepped forward towards him, but frown when he noticed the party around Harry.

"Professor Danvers, what are you doing here?" Hagrid asked with a frown.

"I'm taking my daughter shopping for Hogwarts," Alura commented coolly. "And I ran into Harry here, all alone in Diagon Alley."

"Ah, I only slipped off for a minute, Harry can take care of himself," Hagrid said. He looked a bit uncomfortable at being underneath the imploring eyes.

"Hagrid, it's nice of you to show Harry around here, but I can take over from here," Alura said. Hagrid opened his mouth to protest. "You might mean well, but you're just the Hogwarts gamekeeper and you might not be able to adequately answer any questions that he might have about Hogwarts."

"I think I'm doing a pretty fair job," Hagrid argued. He was becoming uncomfortable. "Dumbledore….."

"Dumbledore trusted me enough to hire me as a teacher," Alura interjected. "I'd think that he would trust me enough to show Harry around and get the rest of his school things."

"Well…" Hagrid whispered. He wasn't about to cause a scene with Lady Greengrass here. "It's up to Harry, I guess."

"I'd like to go with them, thank you for everything, Hagrid," Harry replied in a diplomatic and polite manner.

Hagrid grunted and turned around, walking off. Daphne watched him leave, as did Kara. Both girls didn't look all that impressed with the half giant.

"We'll get our shopping done first, and then we have a few other stops to make," Alura informed Harry.

"Okay, sorry about running out, but we need to get going," Anastasia said.

The group said their goodbyes. Daphne turned to Harry and Kara last. "I guess that I'll see you at Hogwarts."

"See you later, Daphne," Harry told her.

"Yeah, see you later," Kara commented.

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><p>Alura took Harry and Kara on their shopping trip, to get them their school things. Some of the things Hogwarts put on their list raised a few eyebrows, but she was just going to go with it.<p>

"And there's one more thing, your wand," Alura said. There was a long sigh that escaped from her mouth when she said that. "They say that you need a wand to perform magic. But that's because the Ministry can track wand magic. And magical creatures like house elves can mimic wand magic."

"House elves?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, they're kind of creepy," Kara whispered. She shuddered at the thought of that.

"Well, they are, but they are extremely powerful and devoted creatures," Alura added. "There was a reason why their powers were enslaved, but it's been lost to history."

Alura entered the wand shop with Kara and Harry. The creepy voice behind the counter gave them the creeps.

"Good evening," the voice whispered.

"What, does Hitchcock own this wand shop?" Kara asked. Harry raised his eyebrow.

"It's good to see you in the physical world at last," the man commented when he stepped out the shadows. "Alura Danvers…..you know, I have recollection of every wand that I've ever sold, but I can't recall you ever using a wand."

"That's because I didn't, and I wish to have Harry and Kara tested so they can receive exemptions for wand usage as well," Alura answered. "A wand would only slow down their learning and impede their process."

"Harry Potter, not buy one of my wands?" the man behind the counter asked. "The thought of it is absolutely absurd. Potters have been buying wands since the days of Camelot."

"You are required to test anyone who asks by international magical law," Alura said. She looked at Ollivander with narrowed eyes. "It hasn't changed in all of the years that you've been around."

Ollivander had been saving a special wand in his shop just for Harry Potter. It was something that Dumbledore had him personally craft after the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He hinted that it might come in handy. To have a Phoenix part with a feather once was remarkable. To have a Phoenix part with a feather twice was unspeakable and would result in an extremely powerful wand.

He knew that he had to give these two future Hogwarts students a test to see if they were capable of performing old magic, natural magic, that was to say magic without a wand. He would lose his license if he refused them that right and their livelihood as well.

"Very well, Miss Danvers, would you like to go first?" Ollivander asked.

Kara gave a slight little smile and stepped forward. Ollivander allowed her to perform the tests. It was the same tests that were given to match a witch or wizard with a wand, only without a wand. It was extremely rare, he could only think of less than a dozen documented cases in thousands of years.

"Miss Danvers, you have a gift,' Ollivander said. He looked rather disappointed, because it was an insult to him that he would be denied an opportunity to match a young witch or wizard with their wand. "And now, the famous Mr. Potter."

Ollivander opened his mouth and added. "I sold…"

"Yes, we've known you've sold every wand in history, since Merlin was a twitch in his father's balls, do get on with it," Alura said. She didn't have much patience for the ramblings of eccentric old men.

Ollivander cast an eye to the wand in the back of the shop that he saved for young Mr. Potter. He felt extremely disappointed that he didn't have a chance to match it to the young man.

The wand maker noticed something extremely odd about this young man. And other then the obvious oddness that was about him. His magic was strong, but it should be stronger.

"Mr. Potter, I wish to check something," Ollivander muttered. If he was right, then there was going to be a problem. "I can sure you that you are most capable of not needing a wand to perform magic. But there is another anomaly with you."

"There's not something wrong with him, is there?" Kara demanded. Alura placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder to calm her nerves down. She did have similar questions.

"Ollivander, what is it?" Alura demanded.

"Just one second," the wand maker commented. He looked rather forlorn and tired when he scanned him. He drew his hand back. "Mr. Potter, you should be dead or at least severely brain damaged."

"What?" Harry asked flatly. That threw him completely off guard.

"This scar is more than just a mark, it contains a dastardly curse," Ollivander whispered. "It has been leeching off of your magic to sustain its life and the life of its original vessel. It's a Horcrux."

Alura's face grew extremely pale. "It should be impossible to use a living thing as a Horcrux."

"It is extremely ill-advised," Ollivander gently corrected her. "The object could wither and decay within a matter of years and a human's body would give out."

"What is a Horcrux?" Harry asked. He sounded a bit impatient.

"A Horcrux is powerful magic that blackens the otherwise noble cores of most wands," Ollivander explained. "A ritual can be performed where a shattered soul can be removed from the body of a person and placed in a vessel. The more times a soul is divided, the more mentally unstable a person becomes. It is foolish to do so more than once. But, it appears that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might have been the first wizard in living memory to do so."

"So, you can remove this, right?" Harry asked.

"It's beyond my capabilities," Ollivander said. His sounded like he regretted it. "Much like you surviving the killing curse in the first place, it is unprecedented."

"What about creating him a new body, free of the imperfections of the last, and transferring his memories inside?" Alura asked.

"That would allow you to destroy the Horcrux, but the risk is too great and the magic required to do so is beyond all understanding," Ollivander said.

Alura had an idea of what she could do, but she wanted to make sure that it was completely safe before she did so. Now all she needed to do was ensure that Ollivander forgot what he learned and didn't say it to the wrong people. The last thing she wanted was Harry to become a lab rat for the Department of Mysteries.

"Thank you, Ollivander, and all you remember is testing Kara and Harry to verify that they do not need wands to perform magic," Alura said. She waved her hand and a dazed look washed over Ollivander's face.

The memories were yanked from his mind and replaced by new memories.

"Yes, Miss Danvers and Mr. Potter can be verified as not needing to use wands," Ollivander said. He looked like his puppy dog had been shot before his very eyes.

They got their certificates and were off on their wand.

Ollivander looked towards the specially created wand, sad that it would collect dust in the back of his shop for all time. But that was their right.

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><p>The Dursleys found their way off of the island and back home. That giant thug decided to steal their only means of transportation off of the island.<p>

Petunia was in a rather short mood. Her husband wasn't that much better. It was a good thing that he was at work. That way he could take his aggression out on his employees and not on her. Vernon could be very short when things didn't go his way.

As for Dudley, well he was in his bedroom with that awful tail that giant bloke grew on his bottom. Petunia whimpered for her poor, precious, baby boy. He was so innocent, he never would have harmed anyone.

Petunia could hear a knock on the door. The boy must have been brought back. It was just like those people to dump him on their steps again like they did about a decade again.

"Just one minute," Petunia said. Her voice was short. She stepped forward and opened the door. She saw a very familiar face that caused her to take a step back. "It's you."

"Yes, Petunia, it's me," Alura said. The woman didn't look all that impressed with her. "Are you going to invite me inside?"

"You decide to show up now, after you freaks…."

"Not a single word, do you understand?" Alura asked. "If you be nice ,you'll never have to see Harry ever again."

Petunia blinked suddenly. She took a few seconds to understand what she was being told.

"And you could have been a better person, but you chose not to," Alura added. "I blame Dumbledore and his cronies for dropping Harry off at your door step in the dead of the night without giving you or your husband any choice in the matter. Just as much as I blame you for your choice of being a heartless and spiteful bitch."

Petunia could not believe that she was being talked this way by such a freak.

"Not one word, Petunia," Alura reminded her. "Harry's Hogwarts letter was addressed to the Cupboard underneath the stairs. I urge you to get severe mental help if you think that's normal."

"That was Vernon's call," Petunia said. She was fully willing to throw her husband underneath the bus.

"I don't doubt that he's brought out the worst of you, but you were fully capable of being spiteful long before you met him," Alura said. "Now, we're going to make a deal. You're going to sign these papers and give up rights to Harry. And you're going to give back every single bit of the money that was given for his care that you didn't use on him with interest."

"He should be grateful that he was given a roof over his head," Petunia said. "And Vernon will never allow that."

"Vernon doesn't have a say in what's happening now, the money was given to you by the Evans family trust to take care of them," Alura said. "Or, you don't. I'll take Harry regardless and I'll take this to trial in both worlds. You'll lose every bit of money to your name, your house, your self-respect, and everything."

"You couldn't gain custody of the boy before, could you?" Petunia asked. She would never forgive Dumbledore for forcing him on her. "You, Rose, and my stepmother, you all tried, but you couldn't win in your freak court system, so what makes you think…"

"You don't want Harry around, so why are you arguing for him to stay?"

Petunia had no answer to that. It wasn't the boy leaving that was a point of contention. It was the fact that her and Vernon racked up countless expenses and a massive debt with lavish expenses. They were addicted to the finer things in life, so they would need to look their very best. They wanted their son to have the very best of everything and they would settle for nothing less themselves.

The money they received from the boy helped them maintain their life style. Vernon's paycheck only could go so far.

"What happens if I refuse?" Petunia asked.

"I'll leak this address to every witch and wizard and inform them what you've done to Harry," Alura said. That caused Petunia to become pale. "They don't take too kindly of the mistreatment of their kind by your kind."

Petunia's hand shook instantly.

"So what is it going to be Petunia?" Alura asked. "Say the word and you'll be free of this world. Or don't, and all I have to do is ask Harry to declare that this place was not his home. And the only thing keeping him here is down and you're the biggest targets. You can run, but you can't hide, as you well know."

Petunia agreed with that point. Vernon was too stupid to understand that he couldn't out run the freaks and as a result, their precious Dudley got a pig's tail.

"Where do I sign?" Petunia asked.

"Right here," Alura said. Petunia scrawled her name on the paper. "Thank you, Petunia, I can't say it's been a pleasure. You can keep Harry's things, I daresay that he doesn't have much to speak of here."

Petunia wondered what she just did. Alura turned around and walked off with the signed papers in her hands.

She would have to explain to her husband that there was no money coming in.

Alura walked outside where Kara and Harry were both waiting for her.

"We have to head to the Ministry to file this and ask for a copy of the will," Alura informed them both. "And after all that's done, I'll answer all of your questions."

"I have a few," Harry said. That little tirade caused him to have more on the list that he was compiling.

"We're going to meet with Amelia Bones, she's the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and potentially the only sane woman in the Ministry," Alura said.

"Tell us what you really think, Mother," Kara muttered underneath her breath.

"And Andromeda Tonks is meeting us as well, she'll be happy that she finally has the lynchpin she needs to nail Dumbledore for custodial tampering," Alura answered.

"Is Dumbledore going to be arrested?" Harry asked.

Alura shook her head. "Unlikely, given who he is. He'll get a stern reprimand and a hefty fine, but given how rich he is, he can afford it. Maybe a restraining order if you're fortunate, unless it pertains to your schooling."

Perhaps it was just Harry, but the more he found out about Dumbledore, the less he wanted to be in the room alone with him.

She grabbed both of the children by the arms and teleported them towards the Ministry, transporting their school possessions back to their home.

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><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Stirring the Pot.**

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><p>Alura had to admit that when she went out today, she honestly didn't intend to perform actions that would turn the entire Wizarding World over on its ear. She was glad when it did though. Dumbledore was unfortunately out of the country, although she suspected that word would get back to him pretty soon and he would be flying back here for damage control.<p>

She shook her head and hoped that Andromeda would meet her here. It was time to blow the Potter case open one way or another. Alura didn't think that her job as Muggle Studies teacher would last way too long anyway. That must have been something, to be sacked before you even started. If that wasn't a record, she didn't know what was.

"What's so funny?" Kara asked.

"I think I might be fired," Alura commented. Harry turned towards her. "I got the job for a reason and that was so I can get close to you. I'm shocked that Dumbledore hired me. I actually never spoke to Dumbledore, McGonagall was the one that interviewed me and told me that I got the job."

"She's the Deputy Headmistress, isn't she?" Harry asked.

"Yes, she pretty much does all of the busy work that Dumbledore doesn't have the time for," Alura said. She sighed. "With his countless titles."

"Why does it seem like the Headmaster of a magical school is the most important person with these people?" Harry asked. Alura looked towards him. "Because, you'd think that Dumbledore was the leader of some cult or something with how some people were rattling on about him."

Alura figured that if Harry was anything like Lily, he would be too smart for his own good.

"The Dursleys got money for my upkeep?" Harry asked her. Alura nodded. "And then they spent the past ten years complaining about how I was a burden to keep…"

"I can assure you they were more than compensated for you, although Lily would be appalled that her inheritance was used in such a way," Alura admitted. She placed her hands on either side of her face and reared her head back with a calming sigh.

"Alura, there you are is that….." a dark haired woman said and she stopped. She smiled slightly. "Harry, it's been…..well, I haven't seen you since before your first birthday party. My name is Andromeda Tonks…..I was your mother's official legal counsel in the magical community and I hope that I can have a similar relationship with you."

"This is all really new to me," Harry admitted. "I didn't even know I was a wizard until this morning. I don't even know where to begin."

Andromeda frowned. Alura warned her about how Harry didn't know that he was a wizard. Dumbledore was throwing him into the deep end of shark infested waters without a life jacket. There were a lot of people who would take advantage of Harry, unfortunately.

"We better meet Amelia Bones, she says that she'll be up to her office in about fifteen minutes," Andromeda said. She turned to Harry. "She'll help you submit a formal request for your parent's will. It was ordered sealed."

"Why was it ordered sealed?" Harry asked her.

Andromeda was prompt to answer him. "Dumbledore said that there was sensitive information within it that could jeopardize the campaign against the followers of Lord Voldemort. He assured the Ministry that it was your mother's wishes to be placed with family and you were sent to your Aunt Petunia's. By the time anyone found out you were sent there, the blood wards were set."

"Blood wards?" Harry asked. "Please explain."

"Your mother performed a complex ritual that allowed you to survive the Killing Curse, at least the best I can tell," Alura commented. "She sacrificed her own life for yours. It was supposed to protect you, but…..I think that Dumbledore might have misinterpreted what Lily did. Blood magic, we don't know a lot about it."

"Petunia mentioned a stepmother….did my grandfather remarry?" Harry asked.

"Petunia's mother was killed when she was young, and your grandfather, Herbert, he married Audrey Grey, who had your mother and younger sister with another man who had died," Alura explained.

It did explain why Petunia was nothing like her sister, not at the slightest. Harry had a couple of questions, but he went for the first one that came to mind.

"So, Petunia wasn't related to me by blood?" Harry asked. "How did these blood wards worked?"

The answer to that question would have to wait. A redheaded woman who looked to be in her thirties made her way up the steps. She was dressed in a pair of elegant robes and more a monocle.

"Councilor Tonks, Professor Danvers, and….Mr. Potter," the woman whispered. "Come into my office."

"No one knows that we're here, right," Alura said. She seemed a bit anxious. While she had Petunia's agreement to relinquish the custody of Harry, it was only half of the battle She saw Harry's look of inquiry. "This is Amelia Bones, she's the head of Magical Law Enforcment."

"Right, the only sane woman in the Ministry," Kara said. Alura gave her daughter a warning look, but Harry laughed, so she relaxed it.

"Yes, I do try," Amelia replied dryly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter, and this spirited young woman must be Miss Danvers."

Andromeda gave Amelia the same questioning look. The Head of the DMLE decided to answer it.

"No, no one is aware of this meeting," Amelia said. "Dumbledore will be back from Albania soon, so we're going to have to work quickly."

Amelia knew that Andromeda had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The head of the DMLE wanted to know what was inside that will that Dumbledore wanted so badly to keep under wraps. Or maybe it really was as he said, it contained sensitive information regarding the Order of the Phoenix?

"I want to see my parent's will," Harry told Amelia. "I don't know much about them."

Amelia thought that was a shame. She remained professional even though her professional demeanor faded immediately.

"It is your right, especially as one of the old families," Amelia said. She looked at Harry's question.

"One of the old families?" Harry asked.

"Yes, the oldest and most decorated magical lines, the ones that had been around since the days of Camelot," Amelia explained to him. That was one of the things that had not been taught in History of Magic. The only thing people at Hogwarts learned was about nonstop Goblin rebellions. She figured and many agreed, that was in the lesson plans of Binns before he died, so that was what he was doomed to teach for all eternity.

Why Dumbledore allowed a ghost to continue teaching was beyond her and many others. The only people who did well in the History of Magic OWLs and NEWTs were the people that studied from the books.

"The Potters are among those families," Harry commented. "So, that must mean that I have a great deal of influence being the last Potter…..am I the last Potter?"

That was question that Harry wondered about.

"In Great Britain, there are other Potter lines that have moved on," Andromeda said. She knew the pureblood culture and the family lines like the back of her hand. "But from the direct Potter line, you are the last and entitled to the legacy and the power that the line has."

Harry understood things, about as well as he was going to.

"What happened to my mother's other sister?" Harry asked.

"Rose," Alura said. He wondered when this question was going to be up. "She was still in Hogwarts and forbidden to leave, despite the fact that her sister died. By the time she was able to go home for the winter holidays, Andromeda, myself, and Audrey were already in the midst of a legal battle. Audrey disappeared several years back and Rose moved to France."

"Disappeared, but not dead," Harry muttered.

"Well her home was found ransacked, but there was no body or signs that she was dead ever found," Alura explained.

"And I got a few death threats and my husband was murdered in Muggle London," Andromeda said.

"I'm sorry about that," Harry said. "Was it done by magic?"

"No, it was a mugging gone wrong," Andromeda said. She frowned and it seemed as if she was extremely skeptical of this point. "The man who performed it killed himself afterwards."

Perhaps it was the long time that Amelia Bones worked for magical law enforcement, but there were too many weird things that added up to be a coincidence. Did she think that Dumbledore was behind every single misfortune? Possible, but not all that likely, especially when there were also people in the Ministry who had a vested interest of getting their hands on the Potter family interests within the Wizarding World. There was a lot of power and any bloc of purebloods could hold a Monopoly on the Ministry if they had that kind of power.

"I think it's time for me to see my parent's will," Harry said.

"Yes, I will take you down to the Department of Records," Amelia agreed. No one could deny if the heir had put in an official request. They would be charged for contempt and be sentenced to Azkaban if they did. It wouldn't be a life sentence, but fifteen years in that place was a death sentence.

"What are we going to do if Dumbledore finds out?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore has his own problems to worry about, if he wants to maintain his status," Andromeda said. She would have liked to get Dumbledore at least kicked out of being the Headmaster of Hogwarts and loosen his grip on his other positions. His staff appointments ruined an entire generation of magical education.

* * *

><p>The group walked down the hallways in the Ministry. It was so late in the evening that most people had gotten off of their shifts. The shifts weren't nearly as hectic was they were during the glory days of Voldemort.<p>

"I don't believe that my parents wanted to send me to the Dursleys," Harry said. He had a few more questions, but he sensed the urgency.

"They wouldn't," Kara said. She shook her head. "I never met them, but my mother has told me enough about them, your mother wouldn't want you anywhere near Petunia. I'm sure your father would agree, I think."

Kara admitted that her mother talked a bit more positively about Lily than she did about James. She commented that James was a smart man, but he put his trust in the wrong people. Kara assumed that meant Dumbledore, who she was not a fan of.

"If I'm so famous, why was Hogwarts the only Wizarding school that I got an invitation for?" Harry asked. That caused Alura, Andromeda, and Amelia to all stop short.

"I'm guessing, and this is only a guess, Dumbledore wrote to the other Wizarding schools and claimed that you already accepted your invitation to join Hogwarts and they didn't feel no need to investigate further," Andromeda said. "Or he stated that was what your parents wanted."

"He said that, didn't he?" Harry asked.

"It's only a guess, but an accurate one," Alura said. "There are other magical schools, but there hasn't been another one in the United Kingdom in over fifty years. Hogwarts has been the only show in town over here and there are several scattered around Europe. Many are mistrustful of foreigners and International Magical Cooperation is at the lowest."

"Dumbledore is trying to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament," Amelia said. She stopped.

"It's been centuries since the last tournament," Alura said. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "And the last tournament ended with all of the competitors in it dead and it had a high mortality rate."

"Where often times the winner of the tournament was the last one that was alive, even if you call it that, I know," Amelia said. She made her way towards the Department of Records.

"Why would anyone want to continue a tournament like that?" Harry asked.

"You're asking the wrong person with a logical answer," Amelia answered. "And we're here."

The sleepy looking clerk at the desk looked up. There was a half full cup of coffee that balanced on the desk. The chill coming off of the coffee was the opposite of what you would expect.

"What is it?" the clerk asked. He sounded extremely agitated for obvious reasons. His gaze looked towards him. He frowned in response. "Madam Bones, what is it?"

"I need to see the Potter will."

The clerk gave a labored sigh. He had been asked about that will for years. The clerk half wanted to know why the hell that the will was so important that Dumbledore had it sealed underneath a Wizengamot order.

"I told you Madam Bones, I wish I could help you…" the clerk said. He noticed Andromeda and Alura standing there. This wasn't the first time that he noticed them.

"I think that it's my right to see the will," Harry replied. The clerk looked towards him and frowned.

"And who do you think you are to tell me what your right is?" the clerk asked.

Harry raised his eyebrow up. "I think that my name is Harry Potter, so you better believe that I have a right to see the Potter will."

The clerk looked like he had egg slapped all over his face. Kara looked highly amused by Harry's side.

"Mr. Potter….it is your right…..but you know that Albus Dumbledore….had the will sealed," the clerk commented for a reason.

"You better not deny Mr. Potter his right," Amelia said. She narrowed her eyes at him.

The clerk wasn't going to be stupid enough to break one of the most sacred magical laws. He especially wasn't going to do that in front of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"There's a note here that says that Dumbledore has to be informed if anyone requests the will," the clerk commented.

"Don't tell him," Harry said.

"This is Harry Potter who you're talking to, remember," Andromeda said. "He's the one that the Ministry said that they had a debt of gratitude for when he defeated Lord Voldemort. You were here?"

"Yes, I've been at this same desk for almost twenty years," the clerk said.

Harry found himself fairly annoyed about the man flinching at Voldemort's name. He noticed that they were afraid of his name.

"And you know that it's important for this hero of the world to see the last will and testament of his parents," Andromeda said. She kept her eyes towards the clerk and he nodded. "And you would respect his wishes not to inform Dumbledore."

"Yes," the clerk commented. There was a lump growing in his throat when he looked at the young man.

He walked towards the filing cabinet and opened it. The large envelope contained the will.

"All it will require is a drop of your blood to open it, Mr. Potter," the clerk replied.

"Dumbledore…..might have charmed it to inform him if you tried to open it," Andromeda said. She was savvy enough to not to put it past him.

"Well, I guess that I'll open it….there's a way to test it, isn't there?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it's a simple process," Alura confirmed to him.

The group left the Department of Magical records. The clerk slumped into a chair and went back to his state of apathy. This was the most exciting thing that happened to him in twenty years of service in the Ministry, meeting the one and only Harry Potter.

* * *

><p>Harry was seconds away from getting some more answers. Of course, the answers that he got so far raised far too many questions.<p>

"My mother hated the fact that she couldn't get you from the Dursleys," Kara told him. "But, you won't ever have to go back there again."

"That place was never my home anyway," Harry said. A magical flare flashed through the air. Kara looked at him.

"Okay, that was weird," Kara whispered. "It's almost like something magical happened."

"I don't know what that would be," Harry replied. Kara turned towards him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," Kara admitted. Her lips curled into a frown. "It's magic, it can be weird sometimes. I mean, look at you. You survived something that shouldn't be survived. And look at Voldemort….he split his soul more times than anyone should."

Harry hated that point being brought up. He placed his hand gently on the tip of his scar and ran his hand over it. It felt like a ticking timebomb. And to think this was the only thing that he liked about his appearance.

"My mother will find a way and you'll be better than ever," Kara said. She placed her hand onto his. Harry felt some warmth. "She has some ideas about it….."

That conversation was stopped soon. Harry could hear the footsteps from the other room by the side. Alura, Andromeda, and Amelia checked the will for any triggering charms.

"The will is clean," Andromeda said. She sighed. "Dumbledore must have either not tampered with it, thinking that sealing it would be enough."

"Maybe he thought that I would not ask about it, so that was enough," Harry answered.

He didn't really know how the mind of Albus Dumbledore worked. There were a lot of oddities in the back of his mind and Harry didn't want to deal with him.

"So, are you going to look at it?" Kara asked.

"Yes, I have to," Harry said.

He would normally be interested in learning about this will of his parents under normal circumstances. The fact that some people, not just Dumbledore, wanted to keep him from accessing the will made him more than intrigued.

"So, this is it," Alura said. She had a vague idea of what the will entailed. Lily eluded to a couple of things in the last conversation and there was one point of agreement in between two of them. "All you need is one drop of blood and you'll be able to open it."

Andromeda and Amelia stood with each other.

"I can assure you, Mr. Potter, that both of us have taken oaths, not to reveal any information without your permission," Amelia said. She gave him a reassuring smile. "It would be foolhardy to do so again. Family magic is the most sacred of magic."

Harry took a knife that had been provided to him. He didn't hesitate for a second. The blade felt magically enchanted in his hand.

He dropped the blood on the envelope. The seal on it glowed and Harry instinctively knew that now was the time to peal it open.

Kara stood at the doorway, leaning forward. She was as curious as Harry was. Anyone in her position would be completely curious.

Harry held the paper in his hands. Time seemed to stand still. The light flashed in his face and he found himself standing in the midst of a field.

A red haired women rose from fire that was right before Harry. Her beauty was unmistakable to anyone who noticed it. His mouth opened when Harry saw her green eyes and saw the same ones that he looked back at from his own place.

"Mum?" Harry asked.

"Careful, I'm hot," Lily joked, when Harry went to hug her when she was surrounding the fire. The fire started to fade away from her and allowed Harry to engulf his mother in a hug, the first one in her life.

Lily pushed away from him and she smiled. "I'm sure that you have questions."

"How?" Harry asked her.

Lily smiled and chuckled. That might seemed to be a bit of a loaded question to her. "I don't know how much you know about me."

"Not a whole lot, I thought that you and my father died in a car accident," Harry said. Lily's expression turned into an ugly one. "Sorry."

"No, don't apologize, Dumbledore sent you to the Dursleys, didn't he?" Lily asked. Lily seemed calm, oddly calm.

She was so calm that Harry was almost scared with how calm that she was. Lily took a deep breath.

"I was a prodigy in charms, so I preserved myself even after my death," Lily said. She inclined her head and shook it. "James thought that Dumbledore would protect us, so he was reluctant to make a will. Since he died first, his will enacted, even though barely briefly. Upon his death, I was made the power of attorney to the Potter interests."

"Dumbledore claimed that he was," Harry said.

Lily breathed in heavily. "Dumbledore claimed a lot of things. I don't want you anywhere near him, Harry, trust me on that one. He meant well at one time, but he was too used to always getting his way."

Harry nodded. He got that impression.

"Magical wills are a rather complex thing, it isn't a matter of the wishes of the deceased, it's the how that the wishes are conveyed that matters," Lily said. She closed her eyes. "And I wish that this will had been opened ten years ago when it was supposed to be."

Lily sensed that there were attempts to get around the statute to open the will, by Alura, by Andromeda, by Rose, by her mother, and a few other people as well.

"Our time together is not as long as I hoped," Lily said. "I was just the means to test that you were my son and that no one accessed the will that shouldn't be."

"How did you know that?" Harry asked her. Lily smiled knowingly.

"A mother always knows, my dear son, a mother always knows," Lily commented. "Today, your life officially begins and you'll be released from your prison."

Harry returned to the office, and judging by the expressions of the other people in the office surrounding them, it appeared that not one second of time passed.

"Harry, you did it, you accessed it," Alura said.

"I know I did," Harry said. He could still feel the presence of his mother in the back of his head. There was a light buzzing in the back of his head when he tilted his head back and he frowned.

The writing appeared on the document. The will was fairly straight forward.

**Upon his death on October 31****st****, 1981, at 10:32 PM, the power of attorney clause in the marriage agreement between Lily and James Potter has been enacted. Lily Evans-Potter has become the head of the Potter family, with all of the rights and responsibilities assumed by that status. **

**The following is the agreement drafted by Lily-Evans Potter, last modified on September 30****th****, 1981, in accordance with the Inheritance Rights act mandated by International magical law. **

**Her heir, Harry James Potter, will receive all personal effects of both the Potter and Evans lines. This includes all properties, businesses, and any outstanding marriage agreements and life debts that have been incurred. **

**In the event of the death of both of his parents, Harry will stay with his godmother, Alura Dnavers. In the event that Alura is unable to perform her duties as godmother, Harry will live with Sirius Black, his godfather, with the caveat that he is to swear a loyalty oath to the Potter line and not to allow Albus Dumbledore to have any say in Harry's upbringing. In the event Harry isn't able to be raised by either of his godparents, he will stay with Anastasia and Edward Greengrass or Andromeda and Theodore Tonks. **

**Under no circumstances should Harry be sent to live with Petunia and Vernon Dursley. He should be sent to a Muggle orphanage if all of the stated options are unable to perform their duties, until his aunt, Rosalina Evans, becomes of age on the date of March 10****th****, 1983, where she will take custody of Harry. **

**Harry is forbidden to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If a suitable replacement school will not take Harry before his eleventh birthday, then money will be provided to tutor him in both mundane and magical subjects. **

**A letter of intent for the marriage of Kara Alura Danvers and Harry James Potter is included, which is scheduled to be on or before Harry's second magical maturity on July 31****st****, 1994. This is in accordance to the magical succession act regarding the final heir of one of the sacred twelve. **

**A letter of intent for marriage of Nymphadora Anne Tonks and Harry James Potter is included, which will take place on or before Harry's second magical maturity on July 31****st****, 1994. This clause has been enacted due to Sirius Black being incarnated and unable to perform his duties as the Black family head of house. This is in accordance to Sirius Black's wishes, made in his revised will made on July 31****st****, 1981 and agreed to by Andromeda and Theodore Tonks. **

**A letter of intent for marriage between Harry James Potter and Daphne Anastasia Greengrass is included, which will take place on or before Harry's second magical maturity on July 31****st****, 1994. This is part of an agreement between James Potter and Edward Greengrass to pay an outstanding debt between the Potter and Greengrass families. **

**A letter intent for marriage between Harry James Potter and Astoria Sophia Greengrass is included, which will take place on and before Harry's second magical maturity on July 31****st****, 1994. This is part of an agreement between James Potter and Edward Greengrass to pay an outstanding debt between the Potter and Greengrass families. **

**A list of all properties, businesses, and full details of the letters of intent for marriage are attached to the will. **

The front cover detailed some of the finer points. And Harry had even more questions. It appeared that magical culture was far different than he was used to.

**To Be Continued. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Best Laid Plans.**

* * *

><p>Harry Potter thought that things might be a bit different in the magical community, with what the standards of society is.<p>

"Harry?" Alura asked.

"That's just a lot to take in," Harry muttered underneath his breath. There were a couple of thoughts that were going in his mind.

He had four marriage agreements, at least those that were stated in the will. One of them was to the young blonde girl that was sitting next to her. Kara turned towards him, her sky blue eyes meeting his emerald green eyes.

"Well, that's not what I expected to learn," Harry commented.

"So, what do you think?" Kara asked. She could see him looking at her.

"I don't know," Harry answered.

Andromeda decided to jump in before things took a turn for the awkward. "If I may, your mother figured that you would be a lightning rod for people trying to marry their daughters off to you, and some of them would be only after your fortune and the status of carrying an heir to one of the sacred twelve."

"Yes," Alura agreed. "I discussed things with your mother and I figured that an agreement between yourself and Kara would be for the best. I wish that there was more time to prepare you for this, as opposed to springing it on you today. But, it's not something that you can bring up in casual conversation."

"Yes," Harry replied. He could see how that would be difficult to bring up in casual conversation. He looked over the contract. "So, I guess I'm getting married, four times, by my fourteenth birthday."

"So, do you want to go to Vegas and we can take care of it right now?" Kara asked.

Alura was about ready to reprimand her daughter for saying something like that. She could see the smile that was on Harry's face, so she stopped.

"I don't know, I don't think that we would be able to pass off for adults to get away with it," Harry told her.

"When we go through our maturity, you'd be surprised how old we'll be able to pass for in Mundane society," Kara replied. Harry looked at her with a questioning look. "Yeah, that's another thing to add to the pile of questions."

"No kidding," Harry muttered. "Well, I've got one that stands out at me right now."

The three women waited. There were numerous questions that Harry could ask.

"What of Sirius Black?" Harry asked. "The will mentioned that Black was my godfather and also that he was incarnated in Azkaban."

Amelia decided to be the one to take the bullet for the rest of the team. "Sirius Black was the best friend of your father, James Potter. He was said to have betrayed the whereabouts of your parents to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Harry's frown grew deeper. Kara reached forward and touched the top of his hand. That calmed him down slightly.

Alura realized that Harry was doing a pretty good impression of Lily right about now. He was trying to be calm and failing in an extremely miserable way of doing so. That was scary how uncanny that looked.

"I see," Harry answered. "And how did he do that?"

"Dumbledore claimed that Black was the Secret Keeper of your parents," Amelia Bones answered to him. She realized how much this sounded.

"Yes, I'm sure Dumbledore said that, but you know, he does claim a lot of things that aren't true," Harry said. "I want to see a transcript of his trial."

"I'm afraid that can't be done, Mr. Potter, "Amelia said.

"What, is this some Ministry law that sealed the transcripts from public view?" Harry asked. He seemed a bit heated.

"No, they're open for public record," Amelia told him. "The problem with Black's transcript is that it doesn't exist, because he never had a trial."

"But, he was thrown in prison," Harry said.

"Yes, it sounds bad, I was only an intern at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement then," Amelia explained. "So, I don't know that much that was going on."

"He was convicted on Dumbledore's word," Andromeda explained to him.

Harry scoffed. He didn't really believe anything regarding Dumbledore's word.

"It does sound suspect, although Black didn't do himself any favors," Amelia said. "He was yelling and screaming like a mad man saying that he was going to get Peter Pettigrew and he was going to make him pay for everything that happened."

"Pettigrew was another friend of your father's," Alura said. She thought Pettigrew was a bit of a follower and an obsessed fan boy of James. There was a part of her that thought that Pettigrew was a bit bitter when James married Lily. "And they say that Sirius killed Pettigrew, along with twelve other Muggles."

"He yelled ,Lily and James, Sirius, how could you," Andromeda said. She went over this entire scenario what seemed like a million times in the back of her mind. She couldn't really piece together a logical explanation.

"What if people see what they thought that they saw?" Harry asked. "Black might have not been the one. What if my parents switched to this Pettigrew at the last minute, or something?"

"No one would ever think of Peter Pettigrew as the Potter's Secret Keeper," Alura said. She grew extremely thoughtful.

"Unless that was the idea," Andromeda commented. It was a plan that was positively worthy of some kind of cunning and manipulation, but if true, it did blow up in the face of several people. "Of course, the real question is whether or not Dumbledore knew of the switch and just didn't care."

Harry's lips curled in frustration when he thought about that. "Well….if we can prove that Black wasn't the secret keeper…"

"Wouldn't do any good," Amelia told him. She hated to take the wind out of Harry's sales, especially given that an innocent man might be in Azkaban. "The treason charge might be off, but there is still the face that Black murdered thirteen people with one curse."

"Unless Pettigrew was the one that fired the curse," Harry said.

"Well it blew up in his face then, because he was killed," Alura said. She thought that Pettigrew would be capable of some kind of murder-suicide though and it was fortunate that Sirius wasn't taken out in the blast with him.

"Maybe," Harry agreed. There was something about this that he didn't think. "If Pettigrew is dead."

"The Ministry found a few bloodied fragments and his finger," Amelia said.

"You didn't find a complete body though," Harry responded. Kara rolled her eyes.

"No, the Ministry didn't find a complete body," Andromeda answered. She was too focused on the matter of Harry's custody and the will, that she didn't have much time to question Sirius' incarcerated and the strange matter of Pettigrew's death.

"No body, means that there's a chance that the person is still out there alive," Harry said.

"I agree with Harry, I swear, no one in the Ministry ever read comic books," Kara said. She got a pair of gazes towards her, but Kara frowned.

"This is just the front page of the will, maybe there's a reference regarding Black being the Secret Keeper," Harry responded.

"I'm not sure, but we're being brought back to the first point," Alura reminded him. "Sirius might not be guilty of being the Secret Keeper, but it's hard to prove the other claims as being false, especially the thirteen murders."

"But there were bound to be witnesses," Harry persisted.

"Witnesses, yes, all of them Muggles and all of them had their memories modified," Andromeda said. "To preserve the Statute of Secrecy, and they all claimed that Sirius blew up the street."

"Well, if they had their memories modified to preserve the entire ordeal, then maybe they had their memories modify to see something to fit into someone's agenda," Harry said. He didn't know, he was just figuring out something. "Are you trying to tell me that people can be chucked into prison in this world on the word of one man?"

"That one man is Magical Jesus," Kara reminded him. She shook her head.

"And there were other people who got off for far greater crimes, by claiming the Imperius Curse and slipping some gold to the Ministry," Alura said. She figured that she would say this. "Sirius obviously didn't, and I'm sure he got a harsher sentence because he didn't want to play the game anyway."

"You mean if he claimed the Imperius curse….what is the Imperius Curse?" Harry asked.

"It's a curse used to make the victim a puppet of the caster," Alura explained to him. "It's one of the three curses that have been dubbed Unforgiveable by the British Ministry of Magic."

"Right, you mean that if he claimed this Imperius Curse…and bribed the Ministry, he would have gotten off, even if he was the man who murdered all of these people," Harry said.

"It does seem likely," Amelia said. She was fully aware that the Ministry was corrupt and she was trying to do things with an even hand. She gotten herself a series of death threats for not playing the game, but the people did not escalate things beyond there.

"Okay, it's obvious that we can't do anything about Black right now, unless Pettigrew turns up and confesses to the crimes," Harry muttered.

"Afraid to say this, but unless he has some magical ability that we don't know about, he's likely long dead even if he didn't die on that day," Alura informed Harry. "He wasn't the most self-sufficient of wizards."

Harry decided that he would worry about that. "So, the Greengrass sisters…..I got the impression that they were pretty well off."

Andromeda looked towards Harry and nodded.

"Then why did my father and their father have to perform a letter of intent with the two of them?" Harry asked.

"Debts come in many forms in the magical world," Andromeda explained to Harry. "Not all of them are monetary. Edward Greengrass may have determined that his two daughters were worthy enough of a payment of a debt."

"It must have been a massive debt if he was going to relinquish his own daughters to someone," Harry muttered to himself.

"A man's children are his greatest treasure and child abuse, both emotional and physical are looked down upon rather poorly in the magical world," Amelia told Harry.

Alura didn't say anything about that, but she fumed at what Petunia did. It just proved that she was a spiteful little bitch that didn't know how to let go her own bitterness about how she wasn't gifted like her sisters were.

"So, that's how Greengrass cleared the debt, with his daughters," Harry replied.

"Daphne and Astoria will be informed of this now that you know," Andromeda told them.

"Well, thanks for throwing me underneath the bus," Harry said dryly.

"They were raised in pureblood culture, they understand that there are certain agreements that need to be held and honored," Andromeda explained to Harry. "But there is the matter of my daughter."

"Yes, there is the matter of your daughter….Nymphadora, wasn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yes…and she doesn't like her name for some reason," Andromeda said. There was a saddened look on her face. "She is currently in her seventh year at Hogwarts, although I may have to pull her out and arrange for her to take her NEWTs outside of Hogwarts."

Andromeda wanted Nymphadora to follow in her footsteps, but it appeared that she wanted to follow in her father's and be an Auror for the Ministry. She tried to convince her daughter that there hadn't been a new Auror signed on for the Ministry for at least five years and there were only three since Snape took over Potions class. Two of those dropped out before the first year was over and one of them managed to hold on. He was still employed by the Ministry.

"So, there's a six year age gap between the two of us," Harry said. "That's….not going to be a problem with her, is it?"

"We have different standards regarding sexuality in the magical community," Andromeda said. "And it won't be a problem when the blocks are removed….."

Before Harry could ask another question, there was a bright flash of light that appeared above his head. He instinctively reached forward and caught a glowing crystal shaped key that dropped into his hand. Something glinted into his eye when he looked it over.

"Is that what I think it is?" Kara asked. She looked at the object that glinted in Harry's hand when he held it over.

All thoughts of any questions Harry might have were forgotten when he held this mysterious crystal shaped object in the palm of his hand. The fact of the matter was that he had some questions and he didn't really know the answers to that. He frowned.

"And now just a mysterious crystal key fell into my hand," Harry said.

"It's a key to a fortress of magical knowledge that has been lost for over five hundred years," Andromeda informed him. She didn't know how Harry, after so many had failed, was the one that was judged worthy.

"And it just happens to fall out of the air, into my hands, just like that," Harry suggested. Perhaps it was just him, but that seemed to be a bit odd. Maybe it was just him though. He continued to analyze the mysterious crystal when it flickered in his hand. It gave a slight human as well. "So, is it just me, or does it seem a bit odd, even with magic?"

"Yes, odd, even with magic," Kara answered.

"Your grandmother would be able to answer more questions than I would," Alura said. She frowned. "But, she has taken herself off of the grid."

"What about my Aunt Rose, she was mentioned," Harry said. "Didn't you mention that she moved to France?"

"Yes, we did," Alura confirmed for him. "I don't know her exact address."

"I don't know anyone who does," Amelia said. That was the idea though, she was going into hiding after she was threatened. The Ministry turned a blind eye and claimed that she had went mad due to the fact that she lost her sister and was unable to acquire custody of her nephew.

Harry frowned, he wanted more questions about his heritage because he sensed that there was more to him that met the eye. Who better to ask the questions to then his blood aunt? He could tell that Alura and Andromeda answered the questions to the best of their abilities, but there were some questions that were beyond them.

"There are some circles that I can dig around in, I'll let you know if I find anything," Andromeda said.

Andromeda had her connections, some of them rather seedy. Rose would need help from someone magical to completely vanish from all magical detection.

Harry didn't know how many more questions he would have by the time this was all said and done. He still had the matter of arranging tutors. The more that he knew about Hogwarts, the more he didn't like. It seemed to be the grand center of the mysterious magical cult of Albus Dumbledore and his mysterious magical Kool-aide.

* * *

><p>"And your room is right across the hall from mine," Kara said, when she showed Harry around her house. It was not a mansion by any means, but it was still it was pretty nice.<p>

Harry thought that the room was really great.

"But, if you're not happy with it, I'm sure that we can make it better," Kara said, with a smile on her face.

"It's great," Harry said. He honestly meant that.

"Great compared to what you have?" Kara asked.

"No, great compared to things that are great," Harry said.

Kara beamed and threw her arms around Harry with a nice hug. She felt so warm pressed against him. She closed her eyes when she embraced him into her.

"My mother wants to have a talk with you when you're settled in," Kara said. "You're taking this pretty well, given the fact that you're going to be married at least four times by the time that you're fourteen."

"Well, I had a feeling that things were a bit different from the world that I left," Harry said to her.

"You just want to be as far away from them as you can, right?" Kara asked him.

Harry nodded in response. "Right."

"Don't worry, I understand," Kara informed him. "The two of us….we're even more different. We had to have our powers partially bound so we didn't hurt ourselves or the people around us, until we were ready to fully train in our gifts."

"Obviously not blocked completely," Harry told her.

Kara shook her head. "No, it wasn't blocked completely. Something that powerful can't be blocked completely, but we are limited. We would have aged much quicker than any normal person if we didn't, until we hit our final magical maturity. And I'm sure that emotionally speaking, we're a bit beyond our own age group anyway."

Harry looked at Kara. She smiled.

"I'll let my mother explain it," Kara said. "It can be difficult for those who haven't grown up in magical society to understand."

"Kara is right, it is."

Alura showed up and she had lunch ready for the two of them. Kara and Harry walked off to join her.

Harry thought that it would be better to swallow any information that he learned if he had a belly full of food. He thought that anyway.

"And now, the information that gets a lot of people raised in mundane society up in arms," Alura said to them. "I suppose that you can't blame them. They have their own conceptions about how we biologically work, and it's true because of non-magicals. When I release your bindings, you two will be able to pass for sixteen year olds, much like Miss Greengrass will, I assume. Perhaps slightly younger in her case, but I have no idea of her power level testing, but no more than within a year or two of your magical ages."

"So, there are two ages?" Harry asked. "Physical age and magical age."

"Yes, a physical age is the number of years that you're alive, obviously," Alura explained. "Eleven respectfully for both of you. But once the bindings are released, your magical age will be sixteen and you will be able to pass as such in the Muggle World."

"Ah, that does make sense," Harry confirmed. He frowned. "I was under the impression that magical users aged slower than their Muggle counterparts."

"That's where it gets a bit tricky to explain and it varies from witch to witch," Alura confirmed. "The final maturity takes place at seventeen years ago age physically, with a magical age of between twenty to twenty three years old depending on the person."

"Right," Harry replied. He got this.

"The physical age catches up with the magical age, with an unofficial fourth maturity," Alura explained. "Then, for your lower end witches and wizards, along with squibs, you age one magical year for every year and a half. For moderately powered witches and wizards, it's one magical year for every three years. For the high end powered witches and wizards, it's one magical year for every five years."

Alura made sure that they both got there. Kara had been through this talk before, but she was a good sport for Harry's sake.

"And then there are those who cease to age once they have reached their mid-twenties," Alura said. "It happens extremely rarely."

"Just like surviving the killing curse," Kara said.

"Well that's only happened one documented time in history," Harry reminded her. He tapped to his lightning bolt scar.

"And yes, there's a problem with the ritual that will allow you to achieve your true magical age," Alura replied.

"With the Horcrux in my scar, there's no deal," Harry told her.

"Yes, that's a problem," Alura said. She had an idea, but when Harry accessed his heritage, there was a chance that he could be purged of anything that was holding back his magical potential.

She was pretty sure the Horcrux was causing his eyesight to become impaired, maybe his other senses as well. As smart as Harry seemed to be for his age, he could be even smarter and the Horcrux impaired his cognitive process.

"Harry, I swear by the end of the summer, the Horcrux will be purged from you and all of the knowledge that Voldemort had would be yours by divine right," Alura said. She tapped her hand to her chin. "Especially since there would be other Horcruxes."

"At least six," Harry muttered, closing his eyes. "Seven is the most magical number, so he would want to divide his soul into six pieces and place them into objects."

"Yes, that does seem likely," Alura said. She didn't even know of anyone doing this more than one time, although to be fair the people who split their soul into Horcruxes didn't broadcast that fact. "And we're getting off of the subject…..someone of your magical abilities…..well there's really no way to put this any way but bluntly…"

"You're going to need a lot of sex so your power doesn't drive you insane," Kara offered her mother. She was nearly bored, because she had this talk numerous times.

"Yes, thank you Kara, once your magical age is unlocked, you will need sexual intercourse, several times per day," Alura informed him.

There was a long pause. Kara lifted her hand and waved it in front of Harry's face, for fear that he broke him. It was a time before he responded.

"Well, then those four wives might come in handy," Harry said dryly. He was taking this in stride.

"And when you're powers are unlocked, you will be on a hair trigger because of your unique circumstances," Alura said.

"This is about the third time I've heard of unique circumstances and yet, I'm no closer in finding out what that means," Harry said. Kara shifted next to him. "And Kara mentioned that there's something different about me and her, even when compared to magical users."

"Yes," Alura agreed. "Magic is a force of nature, as I'm sure you've figured it out. It is all around us, but the ability to utilize it is restricted to a select group of individuals. Out of those, most require wands to at least train the magic. Over time, a group of Homo-Magi have been convinced that wands is the only way to perform magic. Natural magic, true magic, has gone the wayside and those who can perform it are often regarded with fear, because they cannot be controlled by the threat of losing their wand and thus losing their ability to magic."

"I still think using a flimsy piece of wood as your only line of defense is stupid," Harry grumbled.

"It's a flimsy magical piece of wood, Harry,'" Kara teased him.

"Those who are still capable of utilizing magic are those who are descended from a long line of magical users that are beyond this world," Alura said to him. "They look like humans and have evolved to be genetically compatible with them."

"And Kara and I are descended from them," Harry replied. He was getting the message.

"The humans on this planet didn't have the ability to perform magic, until they were experimented on," Alura said. "The Ministry of Magic have tried to replicate the means to give magic and also to take it away for centuries, but they've never quite mastered it."

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"There is a group of purebloods that do not like those of more mundane blood having magical abilities, despite the fact that those descended of mundane blood might be descended from the users of true magic," Alura explained. "Gifts have been known to skip generations."

Harry nodded, that made a perfect amount of sense. He was going to have to let that sink in. The more he learned about his heritage, the more he understood that his life was far more complex.

"The crystal key though, what is it?"

* * *

><p>A small cottage in the French Countryside was the home of a young schoolteacher, even though she was not teaching this time. She had teaching certificates in both the regular and magical words. The woman looked like the exact double of Lily Evans-Potter and anyone who encountered her that knew Lily looked like they saw a ghost.<p>

Rosalina Evans, called Rose by her friends and her family, fled to France around seven years ago. She had been sent out of the country by threats. Her attempts to acquire custody of her nephew failed, and there were others with pureblood ties and connections that failed.

The will of Lily Evans remained sealed and as long as it was sealed, there was no chance in proving that Lily didn't want Harry to be sent with the Dursleys. Rose traveled the world a little bit before settling here, her mother's connections with the Society that she was a part of allowed her to live a quiet life.

She wished that she had not been caught trying to sneak out of Hogwarts on that night to try and get Harry before they did. Despite the fact that she was a fifth year, she was better able to take care of Harry. Dumbledore and bird watching club would rather Harry squander his potential and mold him in Dumbledore's image to be his successor and heir then allow him to grow.

She refused to call it the Order of the Phoenix, because that was a dishonor to the noble Phoenix.

Rose didn't really want to even think about Dumbledore's mind worked. The problem was that he thought that he was doing the right thing and he had never been told no.

A flash of light caused Rose to jump halfway up off of her chair. The redhead peered forward and there was a letter that fell down.

**Rosalina Evans:**

**This is a courtesy message from the Department of Magical Inheritance to inform you that the will of Lily Evans-Potter has been opened and read, by Harry James Potter, with Alura Danvers, Amelia Bones, and Andromeda Tonks as witnesses. Harry James Potter is now in the temporary custody of Alura Danvers, until his true age is unlocked through magical ritual. **

Rose looked at the letter; she never expected to get this announcement.

Rose jotted out a quick letter, to send it to Alura and performed a few spells to seal it. Anyone who tried to read the letter that shouldn't was going to be in for a few nasty surprises. She reached underneath her shirt and pulled out a glowing pendent that resembled a Phoenix.

"I'm coming home," Rose whispered.

She disappeared from her cottage in a flash of light.

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore returned from his trip to Albania and he was shocked to see how everything seemed to be turned upside down.<p>

Hagrid was a nervous wreck when he met Dumbledore on the way out and when he revealed that Alura Danvers and her daughter met Harry, Dumbledore could see that there would be problems, but he had no idea.

Dumbledore had to meet with Fudge about this. He could hardly even imagine the man's reaction when he found out that Harry Potter would not be attending Hogwarts and more importantly, there was really nothing that Dumbledore could do about it.

He unfolded the letter and looked at again, if almost hoping that the contents would change.

**Dear Professor Dumbledore:**

**I have to respectfully decline your invitation to learn magic at Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizadry. I feel that it doesn't have what I want for my magical education and my mother would have preferred that I did not attend it. After doing some research, I don't think that I would be a good fit at Hogwarts regardless. **

**Sincerely, **

**Harry James Potter. **

Dumbledore held the paper to his chest and read it again. The fact that Harry didn't have the wand that Dumbledore had lovingly crafted was a slap to the face of the old man.

"I need to see Minister Fudge, it's urgent," Dumbledore said.

It was a change of direction. Fudge owled Dumbledore at least twenty times a day, asking him for advice.

"The Minister will see you now," Fudge's secretary told him after checking something for a moment.

Fudge's tone was jovial when he saw that Dumbledore entered his office.

"Albus, it's an honor to see you, and you've come to my office for once and not the other way around!" Fudge cheered towards him. He resembled a pompous and overblown cartoon character. "Would you like a crumpet?"

"No thank you, Minister, I'm on very urgent business," Dumbledore said.

Fudge's expression fell and he looked at Dumbledore. He eyed the cabinet that was in the back of office. It was a necessity for any Minister of Magic, the contents inside.

"I am disappointed with you, Cornelius," Dumbledore responded. "I thought that I told you to tell your employees that the Potter will was not to be opened due to the sensitive information that it had."

"I beg your pardon," Cornelius said. He nearly choked on his tea.

"Yes, Harry Potter was here and…"

"Harry Potter was here and no one dared inform me that he was here!" Fudge yelled. He slammed his fist on the desk in fury.

It would have looked good for him to be seen with Harry Potter, it would have bolstered his popularity. He would be the most beloved Ministry of Magic ever. It was better than kissing ugly babies and hugging fat women.

"Harry Potter was brought here to be read the Potters will, by Alura Danvers and Andromeda Tonks and Amelia Bones were involved," Dumbledore said.

"Well, yes, of course the boy wanted to see what his parents left him, completely understandable, I don't see what the big deal is, Albus," Fudge said, waving off Dumbledore's words.

"The information inside the will was not meant for eyes that young," Dumbledore said. "And Harry has decided not to attend Hogwarts."

"Well, I don't think the lad would get that far, because you have to attend Hogwarts if you wish to be issued a legal wand in this country," Fudge said. "You told me all about that law, didn't you?"

"Yes, Cornelius I did," Dumbledore agreed with him. "But…..I'm afraid that Harry Potter may have decided to attend a magical school in another country."

That caused Fudge to shriek like a girl and spill his tea all of himself. It was rather undignified.

"No, he can't….you realize how bad it looks, employment at the Ministry is already well down, less qualified Hogwarts graduates, I don't know why that is," Fudge muttered to himself. "After all, Hogwarts is the greatest magical school in the world, you told me so yourself."

"Yes, Cornelius, I did," Dumbledore agreed to him. "But if this gets out that Harry Potter isn't going to Hogwarts, it will be disastrous."

Fudge absent mindedly brushed a beetle off of his sleeve. He frowned when the beetle settled down onto his desk and scurried out of sight.

"What do you want me to do?" Fudge asked. "I'm not sure if there's enough time to force a law through the Wizengamot to force every young magical user that is not of age to attend Hogwarts."

Dumbledore smiled. "If we can get this done, Cornelius, we could solve the problem of not having enough able employees at the Ministry. A job at the Ministry requires a Hogwarts education after all and by making it compulsory for the home school students to attend, we will bolster the numbers and the Hogwarts test score averages are bound to go up."

"Yes, yes, of course," Fudge said.

"And I'll need to find Amelia Bones, and inform her about…"

"No need to find me, Albus, I'm right here."

Dumbledore turned around and saw Amelia Bones standing in the office door. She walked forward, business like and slapped an envelope in his hand.

"What's this?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's a summons, to appear before the International Magical Court on August 28th, for custody tampering and fraud against the final heir of one of the sacred twelve," Amelia informed him.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Dumbledore said.

"Read the summons, Albus, and it explains it so plainly that a five year old will understand it," Amelia told him.

"Well, Albus, I just remembered, I have something extremely important to take care of," Fudge said, when he left the office. "I'm sure you can find your way out."

Dumbledore was left with the summons in his hand. This was not his day. Perhaps if he could find Alura, he could convince her to convince Harry to attend Hogwarts. It needed to be done, the magical community of the United Kingdom would crack and there would be a scandal if Harry Potter was not able to attend Hogwarts.

He had to return and prepare his defense for the trial. It was not lost to him that this was not in front of the Wizengamot and thus not in front of people who Dumbledore taught, but rather in front of the International Magical Court.

A court would be impartial and brutally harsh towards anyone who broke the law, regardless of their reputation or their wealth, and many found it fortunate that the Death Eater trials were not done in front of the International Magical Court.

**To Be Continued. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: What We See. **

* * *

><p>Harry Potter held the crystal key in his hand when a flash of light engulfed his body. He doubted that any amount of verbal explanation would have really would be sufficient.<p>

Kara's eyes locked onto him when he glowed. She reached forward towards him. Alura stopped her daughter from doing so.

"This is a journey that Harry must take," Alura said.

Kara felt the same light engulf her at that moment. The blonde was shocked and surprised at this. That didn't even compare to the shock and surprise her mother experienced.

"It looks like this is a journey that both of us are going to need to take," Kara replied. The two of them disappeared into a flash of light.

Kara landed gracefully on the ground. Much to his surprise, Harry landed gracefully onto the ground behind her. The blonde looked over her shoulder towards him. There were many questions and answers didn't seem to be forthcoming any time soon.

"So, what do you think?" Kara asked him.

Harry had a lot of ideas what to think. None of them were going to be close to what was really going on here. He drew breath and placed his hand on the edge of the gate. The gate heated up underneath his fingers. It was almost like it was testing him.

"It's trying to see whether or not I'm worthy to go inside," Harry said. Kara bit down on her lip in an apprehensive manner. "I guess if I'm not, it's just going to spit me back. But I am."

"You think that you are?" Kara asked him.

"I don't think, I know," Harry said. He reached behind him and grabbed her hand.

The young blonde grabbed his hand. She squeezed it firmly. "Then if you think….you know that you're worthy, then that's good enough for me…."

"The key's the perfect fit," Harry said. He touched the crystal key up towards the lock.

There seemed to be a lot of hoops to go through to get from Point A to Point B. Harry figured that was to separate those who really wanted this, from those who didn't want it.

The bright light engulfed the two of them. They felt like they were surrounded by knowledge. It was out around them, they could grasp it, if they only knew where to begin. Somehow though, it was out of reach.

Harry and Kara appeared in the middle of a grand library. There were books as far as the eye could see.

"So, all of this for a library?" Harry asked. "Or is there more?"

The wall cracked open and revealed a glowing archway. Harry took a step towards it. Kara looked at him.

"Behind these walls, lies my legacy," Harry whispered. He stopped and looked at her. "Are you coming?"

Kara grinned and followed him. Her breath was at the back of his neck. "I'm right behind you."

* * *

><p>Alura tried not to freak out too much. It was a nerve rattling experience to see your daughter and her betrothed disappear through an energy field. She knew what the crystal key was. There were countless generations of Potters who were tested to see whether they were worthy, and only maybe a handful of them got to the stage where they vanished with the key.<p>

The fact Harry and Kara were gone for so long indicated to Alura that Harry was more worthy than most.

There was a knock on her door. Alura knew that very few people could find her here. The list was short and every one of them wasn't a cause for a concern. She got up to her feet and made some swift strides over towards the door.

The door swung open and revealed Rosalina Evans on the other end of the door.

"You've heard," Alura said. She stepped back and allowed Rose inside.

"Yes, I've heard, and I never thought that this day would come," Rose replied. She sat down and clutched the pendant that transported her to this place. "Where is Harry?"

"Harry accessed the key," Alura replied.

"Already?" Rose asked. The key normally didn't manifest until someone's second maturity and Harry didn't even technically go through his first yet. The spells were not cast, as far as she knew anyway. "So, how much did he know?"

"Everything Lily put in the will," Alura informed her. "He knows about the marriage agreements."

"And did he take it well?" Rose asked.

"He took it better than expected," Alura said. She offered Rose a cup of tea and the woman took it. Alura never was a fan of tea. "But I suspect that was due to the fact that he was more excited by the fact that he got away from the Dursleys than anything else."

"That kind of behavior really can be a problem," Rose warned Alura.

"That's what Dumbledore was banking on, that Harry would be so excited to be rescued from there, that he would consider Hogwarts as his home," Alura said. "Dumbledore is in a lot of hot water right now. He's being brought up in front of the International Magical Court."

Rose whistled. "I bet he's not too happy about that."

"Well, I haven't seen him in a while, so I can't imagine how he would react," Alura said. "What worries me is how he's going to make another play for Harry?"

"We've got all of that under control though, don't we?" Rose asked.

"Once he read the will, there isn't much Dumbledore can do," Alura said.

Rose gave an exasperated sigh to the woman. "But you know that Dumbledore will try something. You know he always does."

"All too well, but that doesn't matter," Alura said. She smiled. "I got the test for Harry. Ollivander wasn't too pleased about it, but by International Magical Law, there isn't too much he could do. Kara and Harry were able to pass with flying colors. Harry was more surprising given that the problem that we encountered."

"What problem?" Rose asked. She sensed something was wrong and Alura was about ready to drop a huge bombshell on her.

"Do you have time for me to tell you?" Alura asked her. Rose nodded in response. "Well, as you know, Harry was anything but conventional. But we can now see exactly how unconventional he is."

* * *

><p>"Wow, wow, wow," Kara whispered when she looked around. The blonde's eyes looked around and saw shelves full of shelves of objects. Not all of them were books. And some looked like books, but they were far more than that.<p>

They were three dimensional journals of some of the greatest magical minds in any time. And that wasn't just on Earth. It was the journals of some of the greatest magical minds in the universe.

And some of the things appeared to be recent, dating back at least five or so years.

"I wonder if there was any more recent magical discoveries," Harry said, placing his hand on the side of a glowing console.

"Searching for recent magical discoveries in the past five years," a soft voice said. "Welcome, Harry Potter ,to Castle Peverell. My name is Peve-Rell, and I am glad to see that you and your Alpha have found your way to this domain. It tends to get a bit boring being trapped here for the past five hundred years without anyone to talk to."

"It's nice to meet you…..Peve-Rell?" Harry asked. The name seemed a bit odd, but based on what he read in some of the magical textbooks he acquired, it might have been a bit normal indeed.

"Yes, that's my name, Peve-Rell," she said. "Perhaps I can take a form that is more appeasing to you."

There was a glowing of light and a woman appeared before his very eyes. She wore a nice set of white robes that fit her body fairly nicely. She dropped down to the ground and looked at Harry with a bright smile on her face. Her brown hair and green eyes flashed down.

"I have learned much through the system that has been created, even if I can't leave the castle," she explained. "Sadly, it appears that new, fresh, magical discoveries are fairly lacking over the past five years, or indeed the last hundred years. Perhaps you can be the one that can change it."

"I will do that," Harry answered. "But where is this castle?"

"It is on a plane where most people cannot comprehend, thus very few people have had an opportunity to unlock its full potential," Peve explained to him. "Your mother will be pleased that you are here, she always thought that you would be the one to finally access it."

"If no one has accessed this place, then how did you talk to my mother?" Harry asked.

"I have a few outposts, your mother stumbled upon one based on her work," Peve replied to him. "I will give you the location of all of them if you like."

"That would be for the best," Harry said. "Along with a list of everyone who accessed it since this castle has last been accessed."

"There were very few people in living memory who have had a chance to access the outposts," Peve answered him. There was a flashing light and a piece of paper appeared in front of Harry.

Harry felt the paper drop into his hands. He looked it over with a smile on his face. His mother was the last person to find one of the outposts and before that, it was over a hundred years before that.

"Seems to me like my mother was one of a select few that were able to access the outpost," Harry muttered when he looked things over. His eyes glazed over things when he looked at things. "Do you have any information regarding Horcruxes?"

"Yes, they were created to put a soul in stasis, while a body needed to be healed," Peve told them both. "Many drastic measures that were needed to heal a body were too damaging for the soul. What you call a Horcrux was the end result of magic that has been corrupted. Any magic and any science can both be used for nefarious purposes in the wrong hands."

"There is a piece of a soul inside me," Harry informed her.

Peve's eyebrow raised and she sounded surprised. "You better explain things to me."

Harry knew that he had a long explanation. He remembered all of what Ollivander told him.

* * *

><p>"He should be dead," Rose whispered. She looked towards the notes Alura put down. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he isn't, but…"<p>

"I know," Alura informed her. There was a flash of light around them both.

"So, I suppose that's our signal to go and meet Harry," Rose replied to her. "Harry and your daughter…..they made it to the castle."

"Yes, it's okay, don't worry," Alura said.

This wasn't the most reckless thing that Rose had done due to magic. The woman stepped through the energy field.

She stepped into some high class architecture and there were a series of flashing crystals. She walked forward, in awe. Lily told her of the vision that she saw of this place. Rose was surprised, but her encounter with the outpost caused Lily to be able to have children after being cursed when she was at Hogwarts.

James didn't question her on it, he was happy to have his heir. Lily never told him, at least to the best of Rose's knowledge.

"Rose, welcome home."

The dark haired woman at the end of the hallway was extremely beautiful. Rose took half of a step forward and she walked towards her.

"Harry, and Kara are both in the study, they're waiting for you," the woman said. "My name is Peve-Rell, I'm the master guardian of Castle Peverell."

Rose had a feeling that this was more than your usual castle. There was a sense of magic in the air, but there was a sense there was something else as well.

The youngest Evans sister made her way through the archway. She stepped on through and her mouth was wide open when she entered inside. She came face to face with Harry.

"You must be, Rose," Harry said with a smile when he looked at her. His green eyes met hers.

"Yes, I am, and it's good to meet you, Harry," Rose said. The only family member she had left alive was standing before her. Her mother was assumed dead, even if no body was found just yet.

The two of them looked at each other. Rose had been envisioning this moment in the back of her head for years and years. She didn't know how it would turn out exactly.

"Harry, I'm…"

"Please don't apologize for things that happened in the past," Harry informed her. He looked at his aunt. "You were still in Hogwarts….and Dumbledore was able to act quickly. Blame him if you're going to blame anyone."

"Yes, I think that many of us are going to be blaming Dumbledore, and more when all of the skeletons come out of the closet in the trial," Alura informed him. "And this is what your legacy is, the biggest storehouse of magical knowledge, not just on Earth, but in the entire universe."

"Well, I guess that will save us a bunch of money on tutors, won't it?" Kara joked.

"Yes, it would and these are far more enhanced than magical portraits," Harry said. He tapped his hand and there was a three dimensional model of Rowena Ravenclaw. She was a solid holographic projection.

"This should be useful," Rose muttered. "You do realize that we're sitting on knowledge that the Ministry would not want anyone to learn."

"I know," Harry answered her. He crossed his arms together. "So, the question is where do we get started?"

"The beginning seems like a good of place as any," Alura said. She was interested in accessing a lot of this knowledge herself and she could say that Rose looked like the same.

"Basic magical theory it is, then," Rowena Ravenclaw said, with a shadow of a smirk on her face.

* * *

><p>Anastasia Greengrass looked at the Daily Prophet that was out, and it was plastered all over the front page. Harry Potter was not going to go to Hogwarts and Dumbledore was being investigated for committing fraud against the final member of one of the oldest families in magical Europe.<p>

There was only one woman who could attack anyone's reputation in such a matter and that was everyone's favorite muckracker, Rita Skeeter. Anastasia often rolled her eyes at the work of this woman, but in this case, she did agree with a lot of what was said. Rita also called into question if Dumbledore should be trusted with the students at Hogwarts and the Lady Greengrass thought this wicked woman had a point.

"Daphne, Astoria, could you come down here for a second?" Anastasia asked her.

Her two daughters walked down. It had been rough since her husband died a few years ago. Especially given that Astoria was left in the room with her father and was with him in his final moments when he succumbed to his magical illness.

"What did you want, Mother?" Daphne asked.

"There is a change of plans, given the current environment in the magical world," Anastasia told both of her daughters. "The choice is yours, but would you rather go to Hogwarts or would you receive magical tutoring at your own pace?"

"I'd rather receive the magical tutoring," Daphne said, shaking her head.

"Well, obviously I would," Astoria said. She had a birthday in December, which meant that she would have to wait a long time to go to Hogwarts. If she got the private tutoring, she would be able to learn how to do magic sooner.

"I figured as much given the current environment," Anastasia informed them. She looked at the Daily Prophet and figured that there would be a good portion of the school who would be pulling out their students. The only people that would be left there would be the hard-lined traditionalists and the Muggleborns that didn't know any better. "I got the letter to say that Harry finally red the will."

"He did?" Daphne asked. She understood her duties, and what she had to do. Someone who was raised in a non-magical environment, they might have a harder time processing the reason why certain things did.

If Daphne got married before she was fourteen, it would keep the Greengrass interests from falling into the hands of people like Lucius Malfoy. The Malfoys were important, but they weren't Potter important.

"Yes, and he's coming over for lunch in a few minutes, so the two of you should get ready."

"So, he knows about it, doesn't he?" Astoria asked Daphne when the two of them got up. "And just think you can go through the ritual soon and….he can be with you for it."

"Really, that's what you got out of that?" Daphne asked.

"He's Harry Potter, even if he isn't famous, he is pretty good looking," Astoria said. "Witches would be lining up for him, and he could charge admission."

"I doubt he's that kind of wizard," Daphne muttered.

"Well, he could," Astoria offered. She sighed when she looked around. "A lot of people might be dropping out of Hogwarts."

"I'm sure that they'll throw Dumbledore out before they let Hogwarts shut down," Daphne said.

"Are you sure?" Astoria asked. She was skeptical. "Do you think that Dumbledore would let them throw him out?"

Daphne hated when her sister was too smart for her own good. She wondered what they were going to do about magical tutoring.

The two Greengrass daughters were dressed in their best robes. The two of them walked down the steps.

They saw Harry and they were drawn breathless at him. Astoria shook her head.

"Four more months," Astoria muttered.

"Are you sure that you aren't part Succubus?" Daphne asked her in a half joking manner.

"Well, that would make you one as well," Astoria fired back.

The two of them looked at Harry, who smiled back at them. Kara was standing at the bottom of the steps. The two Greengrass girls descended the stairs to the kitchen. They nearly stopped.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Harry," Daphne said with a smile. "I think you've caused a bit of an uproar though."

"Daphne," Anastasia said in a reproachful voice. "I do apologize for my daughter, Lord Potter….."

"Well she has a point," Harry informed Anastasia. He allowed her to hold out her hand and plant a kiss on the top of it. "It's an honor to meet you once again, my lady."

One of the things Harry was studying in the castle was magical customs. If he was going to be public and was going to take control of his inheritance, it would be poor form for him to look like a fool in front of those people. Besides, there were things that he could use against them to get ahead.

Alura mentioned that if the purebloods didn't like anything, it was the fact that their own customs were used to make their lives more inconvenient.

"There are whispers that Hogwarts is going to either shut down or this school year is going to be delayed," Anastasia said to Alura. "Guess that means that you're out of a job."

Alura laughed. "You know, the moment that I went against Dumbledore's grand vision, I started polishing my resume and looking for work elsewhere. Now Rose has returned, I do have another ally against him."

"No word on where Audrey Evans is," Anastasia said.

"If she disappeared, she's pretty good at covering her tracks, until she wants to turn back up again," Alura informed them. "And if someone made her disappear, you have to feel that whoever did that was good in covering up their tracks. So either way, we're not going to know, until someone wants us to know."

The group sat down for lunch.

"I'm following your example and not going to Hogwarts," Daphne said. "So, how are you going about getting private tutoring? I know it doesn't come cheap."

"Well, we've found someone who would do it for free," Kara said.

Daphne raised her eyebrow. She seemed a bit skeptical. "Even some of Harry's stature, it still doesn't come cheap."

"Well, we found some of the greatest teachers out there….it's complicated," Harry informed her.

"I'm sure Harry will explain it to you later, but since he knows about the contract, we need to make certain arrangements," Anastasia informed him.

"Why was the contract made?" Harry asked. "I'm just curious, what kind of debt was…"

"There was a long standing debt between the Potter and Greengrass families, my husband decided that instead of paying a tribute every year of forty percent of his profits, he would just marry our daughters off," Anastasia informed him. "Given the circumstances, there can be far worse families to have debts to."

Harry thought that made perfect sense.

"And I'm certain that you will go through your maturation soon, by the end of the summer," Anastasia suggested.

"Yes, if it wasn't for a snag we ran into, as Harry's magic is too unstable," Alura said. She looked at the woman.

"Why would his magic be too unstable?" Daphne asked.

"I need to have your word that none of this information leaves this room," Alura informed them all.

"I swear on my life that it won't," she responded without warning. "And my daughters will not reveal this information."

"It would break our marriage contract," Daphne informed Harry. "And I could forfeit my magic if I'm lucky."

"Azkaban is more likely," Astoria chimed in. She shuddered at the thought of it. Child abuse and breaking of marriage agreements were two crimes that were punishable by Azkaban.

"Harry has a Horcrux in him," Alura said. Daphne and Astoria seemed confused by this, having no idea what this was. "It's a piece of the soul of Lord Voldemort inside him."

"Wait, he has Voldemort inside him," Astoria said. She closed her eyes and got a very bad image in her head. "Ewww!"

"Yes, Astoria, thank you for that," Daphne said, scrunching up her nose. Both girls got a look from their mother to be quiet.

Alura thought this wouldn't be the first or last time she would need to give this particular explanation.

* * *

><p>Nymphadora Tonks returned home to her bedroom at her house. Things were a bit quiet; it was the summer before her final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her mother wasn't too pleased about her pursuit to be an Auror, but she did give Nym her full blessing. That was what mattered.<p>

It was her dream to be an Auror and be the best one. She had to survive her NEWTs to get to that point. Then she had to go through the three year training program to even qualify to be a junior Auror. There was even more training after that.

After all that, Nym thought that it would be worth it.

She made her way into her room. Her desk was a bit of a disaster area. She took after her father in that regard.

Nym saw a letter on her desk. She frowned when she opened it up.

Her eyes widened when she read the contents. It was a note that indicated her marriage agreement was read.

That was the first Nym ever found out about a marriage agreement. She read over the letter. That had to be some kind of elaborate prank. There was no other explanation for it. It was an extremely elaborate prank and the ink on the letter was going to change.

It would explain how every single man that tried to get close to her started to violently throw up. Here Nym thought that it was her bad breath after all of this time.

"Nymphadora, honey, I need to have a word with you."

Her mother was calling. Nym decided to shake off the cobwebs and she made her way downstairs. "I'll be down there in just a second, Mum."

Nymphadora Anne Tonks was taking this so called marriage agreement in good stride. She had some real practical jokers in her year. She wondered which one of them might be the culprit.

"Nymphadora, please sit down," Andromeda informed her daughter. "Your seventeenth birthday has passed and it's time to inform you of something. Your father's last wish was not to tell you until you were seventeen."

"Tell me about what?" Nym asked. She frowned. There was something about this she didn't like.

"It's about your marriage agreement," Andromeda said. Nym's eyebrows raised. "Don't blame the person who….well blame myself, my father, and Sirius for this one more than anyone else."

"Sirius Black, the Prisoner of Azkaban?" Nympahdora asked.

"Yes, my cousin," Andromeda commented lightly. "Your cousin too as well, but this agreement was set up in happier times. This was to prevent the Black fortune from following into the hands of the Ministry or worse the Malfoys."

Nym wrinkled here nose. The Malfoys would be pretty bad having that gold. "So, I'm getting married….can't you void the agreement?"

"Do you want Lucius Malfoy to have unprecedented power and influence over people, Nymphadora?" Andromeda asked her. "People like you will never get the foot in the door in the Ministry."

"Daughter of a Muggleborn and a blood traitor, yeah, I can see how that would be a problem," Nym agreed. "So, I'm getting married…..when is it anyway?"

"Well you got to meet him first," Andromeda explained to her daughter.

Nymphadora thought that made a lot of sense. "Who is the poor unfortunate bastard?"

"Harry Potter," Andromeda said to her daughter.

She blinked.

"You're fucking shitting me," Nym muttered, forgetting momentarily who she was talking to.

"Language, Nymphadora," Andromeda told her daughter. "And no, I'm not…..here is the full copy of the marriage agreement, if you wish to look over it."

Nymphadora Toonks took the agreement in her hands. She needed some time to process it. Andromeda nodded in understanding.

She did wish that Ted didn't make her promise to wait until Nymphadora's seventeenth birthday to tell her. The nature of the agreement prohibited Nymphadora from having relations with any other males. With any other females, that wasn't a problem. It might have seemed like an odd thing to an outsider, but in magical society, it was perfectly normal.

Necessity indicated that a wizard would have several wives, due to the fact that there were far more witches then there were wizards. Necessity also indicated that witches would have to find relief in each other many times, because the number of wizards who could handle more than three or four witches, if they were charitable was lacking.

* * *

><p>One might have mistaken what was walking outside of a library as a pile of books with feet. There was a person that was behind the pile of books however.<p>

A man in his late thirties with a grey beard and bushy brown hair, along with ugly glasses watched the stack of books with feet walk towards him. He was dressed in a bland grey suit. One of his most distinguishable features was his rotten teeth and two of them were also buck teeth. He could have gotten them fixed years ago, but he kept his teeth as a cautionary tale to scare his patients into having good dental hygiene.

Doctor David Granger watched his daughter make her way to the car. "Hermione, we need to go, we're going to be late."

"Coming, Dad," the stack of books with feet replied. She staggered and nearly fell over. The books could have crushed her if she made one more movement.

David Granger sighed.

The young almost twelve year old girl looked at her father through the books when she put them in the backseat of the van. The young brunette had inherited her father's hairstyle and his buck teeth as well.

Her father was a hard man to impress. Hermione focused on studying and being the very best in her class. The very best was not good enough, as her father told her that she could always do better. Hermione was determined to gain the satisfaction of her father, gain a word of praise, gain anything.

She was excited as she climbed into the front seat of the car next to her father ,who didn't even acknowledge him.

David Granger always wanted a son that he could bond with, so the fact that he had a daughter really disappointed him. He tried to care for her and he gave Hermione all of the thinks that she needed. It was just that he didn't have the emotional attachment to his daughter. His marriage with his wife took place a month after Hermione was born. The drinks were flying at the office party and nine months later, she was there.

The weird incidents started to happen involving his daughter several years ago. His highly religious parents assumed that Hermione was possessed by the devil. David had a hard enough time convincing his parents that Charlotte's book club was not some Satanic Cult.

David was very reluctant to allow Hermione to attend this school. The woman who came there claimed that if Hermione went there, she could control those outbursts. David hoped so, so she could be saved and she could live a normal life.

He had to take his daughter to the library. He was on his way home.

"Magic is going to be so interesting," Hermione piped off in the car.

David groaned. Sometimes his daughter could get too excited and he needed to nip this one in the bud.

"Hermione, you need to swear that you won't talk about that in front of Grandma and Grandpa," David told his daughter. He didn't want to get written out of the will, he was on shaking enough ground as it is.

"Okay, but why…"

"It's a special talent, it can be our little secret, just between all of us," David told her.

"Okay," Hermione said.

David managed to keep his eye on the road. He really did hope that there would be no more outbursts.

The storm raged outside when David drove home.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a drunk driver skidded off of the side of the road. David couldn't get out of the way in time.

The drunk driver slammed into the back of the car and sent the Granger automobile spinning out of control. It flipped over several times and crashed hard.

Glass flew everywhere as the car slid, causing sparks to fly in every which direction. Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs, before the car finally stopped.

All was silent, and Hermione screamed again when she could see the fire that was created around the car.

"Daddy!" Hermione yelled. She was surprised that she could still move.

David Granger didn't respond. His neck twisted at an awkward angle.

The next thing Hermione knew, she was outside of the car, lying on the sidewalk. Her face was mangled by the glass.

She saw the car with her father inside blow up completely. Her eyes widened in shock as the most traumatic moment in her young life occurred before her eyes. If only she didn't have to go to the library, none of this would have happened.

Hermione's body gave way to exhaustion when she lapsed into a state of unconsciousness. She also lost a lot of blood in the process.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Collaboration. **

* * *

><p>Harry closed his eyes when he levitated a set of razor sharp objects in the air. Kara was watching him, with a frown on her face. She was safely behind a barrier that would protect any inadvertent bludgeoning. Whilst she trusted Harry, it was better to be safe than sorry for obvious reasons. The perky blonde watched what he was doing with a critical eye.<p>

"Exactly why are you doing that?" Kara asked.

"Magic is all about focus, if I can focus, I can visualize what I'm doing," Harry explained to her. "And if I can visualize what I can do, then I can do anything."

"They say that there are certain things that not even magic can do," Kara said. "You know that are certain laws of magic and stuff like that."

"Magic pretty much makes an idiot out of every single law of physics," Harry informed her. The blonde nodded. "Therefore, if we consider things from that angle, there's a pretty good chance that there are ways around the laws of magic."

"You say that in front of certain people, you might make their brains melt," Kara said. She watched Harry place the jagged objects back into place with his mind. "But, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Harry said. Kara looked at him, frowning and crossing her arms. "I couldn't resist."

"I'd imagine," Kara answered crossly when she looked at him. "So, you're going to plan to obliterate the laws of magic just like that. Are you sure half of what you're doing is magic?"

"What is magic but science that cannot be explained or replicated?" Harry asked her. "By those who do not perform magic. And I believe that one of the fundamental rules of magic is that you need a wand to perform them."

"To learn it actually, the Ministry just makes everyone dependent on their wands so they could snap them."

Kara was sitting across from Harry. She didn't want to bring up the elephant in the room. Her mother and Rose were off working with Peve regarding something. She suspected that it had something to do with Harry's little Horcrux problem. She could be wrong, Kara didn't really know if she was or not.

"So, do you think that we can fix it?" Kara asked. She stepped forward when the barrier was put down. She placed her hand onto his scar. "It feels like a normal scar. Does it even hurt?"

"Peve thought that it might hurt when I'm in proximity with Voldemort or he's especially angry or happy," Harry said. He closed his eyes. "I almost can see out of his eyes, if I concentrate so hard."

"He's supposed to be mist, or vapor, or something?" Kara asked.

"Yes, or something," Harry said. He read several books and what Voldemort did was unprecedented. "He's hovering between two places."

"So he's got one foot in the real world and one foot in the realm of death," Kara muttered.

"I guess," Harry told her. That was a pretty good way of talking about it.

Rose stuck her head inside and smiled. She didn't want to disturb this, but she figured that she could update Harry on the progress.

"Harry, do you think that I can talk to you for a second?" Rose asked. Harry nodded and got to his feet. Kara got up to her feet and followed him.

Rose wasn't going to deny Kara a chance to come with Harry. It was best that the two of them walked with them to talk about this.

"So, is there any good news?" Harry asked.

"Peve was able to search through the countless magical knowledge that we have at our disposal here," Rose informed him. "And Alura is talking to Peve and they're trying to figure out a way to deal with the Horcrux. We thought at first that we might have to temporarily kill you."

Harry raised his eyebrow. "Oh?"

"But, thankfully it's nothing that extreme," Rose informed him. "There's a complex magical ritual that we're working on that will remove the soul fragment and will also allow us to hopefully track down the others."

"Why do I think that it won't be that easy to track things down as you're making it?" Harry asked Rose.

Rose gave a wistful sigh. "Likely because things are never that easy. But we're just going to have to make the attempt to see what happens. Your body will be stronger than ever. Your magic is greatly strained because of the Horcrux and maintaining the protections at the Dursleys."

Harry snorted. That was a waste of valuable resources.

"And they will have to pay back every bit of money that they owe me, right?" Harry asked.

"With interest," Rose said. There was a part of her that would have liked to be a fly on the wall. "And Petunia is going to have to testify at the trial of Albus Dumbledore."

Kara wondered if that was good or bad. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs.

"Petunia might not be too fond of you," Rose informed him. "But, if I can say one thing, she's not too happy about Dumbledore taking the matter out of their hand."

The only thing Harry felt sorry for Petunia for was the fact that Dumbledore dropped him off in the middle of the night. He wasn't completely sure exactly how Dumbledore expected to keep Harry where he should be and make sure Petunia didn't freak out and send Harry off to the orphanage. Vernon had made several thinly veiled references that he should.

"Dumbledore's made a lot of allies," Alura said. She hovered halfway in the door. "But he's got a lot of people who want to air their dirty laundry...but enough about him. The trial will happen soon."

"Do we have any time table about the Horcrux removal?" Harry asked. Alura looked at him. "I don't want to be rude, but…."

"I understand, you want your mind, body, and soul to be completely yours," Alura said. She placed her hand on Harry's cheek and looked into his eyes, that were so much like Lily's. They were covered by glasses, but not much longer. The magical properties of his mother's eyes should have given him perfect or even enhanced vision. "It will be done by the end of the month, around the time of Dumbledore's trial."

Harry smiled. All he had to do is wait and watch. He was sure that the trial of Albus Dumbledore was going to unearth some skeletons.

He kept a close eye on the Daily Prophet, even though it appeared that magical media and Muggle media didn't have that little in common. There was a lot of sensationalism. Harry found it amusing and a bit disheartening that people who never spoke a word to him in his life thought that they had an insight to what he was saying.

He would have to talk to Andromeda to see if he could put a stop to it.

"Let's get in a little more, before dinner time," Harry said. He looked towards Kara, who nodded.

"Right, I'm sure we want to get through the first volume or so before the summer, although we should bring Daphne in on this sooner or later," Kara said. "So, she doesn't feel too far behind."

"I'm certain that we can arrange for her to be brought to the castle," Peve chimed in with a momentary smile on her face.

Harry smiled and looked towards the enchanted journal. "Basics of magic, Chapter 2."

"I'm ready to begin when you are," Rowena said, with a smile. It was sad to see how far magical education standards had fallen.

She was glad that there were some who weren't going to be tied down by what education was mandated by the government. Any interference by the government within education lead to a swift downfall. The Hogwarts charter was broken when the Ministry of Magic got involved with the school, so it technically wasn't the same school that the founders founded.

"We're ready, Lady Ravenclaw," Harry said.

"Yes, we're ready, " Kara agreed, grabbing Harry's hand nicely. The two of them prepared to learn their next lesson.

* * *

><p>Nymphadora Tonks took a couple of days to think about the bombshell that had been dropped on her. She spent a lot of her time preparing for her NEWTs. She didn't really want to go to Hogwarts because of the current situation. It was through a sheer miracle that she got to NEWT level Potions class.<p>

Well it wasn't a miracle as much as she studied her Potions until her eyeballs fell out, figuratively speaking of course. She felt like it was literally speaking though.

If she thought that Snape would be a more bearable unbearable ass in front of seven students as opposed to twenty five, she could not be more wrong. He was even worse and it was fortunate that Nym managed to achieve the top grades to stay in class.

There was a knock on her door when she pulled herself out of the Potions textbook she was ready. She needed perfect Outstanding grades on all her NEWTs if she wanted to get even in the training camp.

"Nymphadora, can I have a quick word with you?"

"Just a second, Mum," Nymphadora said. She figured out that she wanted to talk about the marriage agreement. She wished to get this elephant out of the room when she had a chance.

Nymphadora didn't even meet her husband to be, yet.

"Yes, Mum, sorry, I was just revising on Potions," Nymphadora said.

"Do not let Professor Snape get you down," Andromeda said. Nymphadora snorted in response to what her mother said.

"It's easy for you to say, you don't have his class," Nymphadora said. She looked at her mother and decided to sigh deeply. "So, what did you want me for?"

"Harry, Alura Danvers, and her daughter, Kara, they're coming over this weekend for dinner," Andromeda said.

"Great, that's great, I'm glad that I'll be able to meet him," Nymphadora said.

"I trust that you're be on your best behavior, Nymphadora," Andromeda told her.

Nym had this funny theory that her mother had a habit of referring to her by her full name just to annoy her. She couldn't move it at all, but she just had that theory. "Mum, I am seventeen years old."

"Which still doesn't stop you from acting like you're seven years old from time to time," Andromeda said. Nym folded her arms across her chest and almost pouted. "Case in point."

Nym shook her head. Her mother really was impossible sometimes.

"If you are prepared to take your NEWTs, then perhaps you should take them this summer," Andromeda said. "If you're ready."

"Wait, if I take my NEWTs this summer, then I don't have to see Severus Snape's greasy nose ever again?" Nym asked.

Andromeda frowned. Her daughter had an interesting way of putting things in perspective. She looked into her daughter's eyes and nodded.

"It will be a lot of work for you to get ready," Andromeda informed her. "And you won't be able to get into the Auror Academy until next August, because you missed the cut off."

"Which would give me time to consider my career options," Nym said. She couldn't help, but think this was a stealth way to make her reconsider being an Auror. Given her marks at Hogwarts, she could be anything that she wanted to be. She was able to think outside the box, it wasn't just all books and studying. "But, if I don't pass my NEWTS…"

"Then you can attend Hogwarts and take them again with the rest of your class in the spring," Andromeda said.

"But, if I pass them, then I never can see Severus Snape's greasy ugly mug again," Nym said.

Andromeda sighed. She agreed with her daughter about her assessment regarding Snape, but she supposed that she should set a good example, as a mother. "If that's the incentive you wish to use."

"Seems like a pretty good assessment to me, Mum," Nym said with a cheeky little grin. "I'll be sure to get all Outstandings. Sure they might not be Lily Evans good, being that she was the smartest witch since Rowena Ravenclaw, but I think that I can do well."

"Let's hope that you'll be prepared to do better than your best," Andromeda answered. She looked Nym in the eye. "And I trust that you'll be on time for our dinner this Saturday, with Harry and the other girls."

"Yes, the other three wives," Nym said. "Well, the other three future wives. The future wives we know about because….you never know with someone as powerful as you say that he is."

"Well, there are a lot of rumors flying through the air already," Andromeda said. "I don't think that it would be good form to agree any of them."

Nym thought that she would have to agree. She learned a long time ago that anything that flew through the poisoned pen of Rita Skeeter was dangerous and only capable of ruining the reputation of others. Was there some truth wrapped in all of the sensationalism? There always was a strand of truth hidden in the eyes.

It seemed like there were a lot of people who wanted to believe the most sensational story possible so they could amuse themselves.

Nym meanwhile headed off to study for her examinations.

* * *

><p>Daphne Greengrass was rarely struck speechless by anything that she saw. There had to be a first time for anything. The young blonde's eyes looked over the castle. The architecture was so sleek that she couldn't believe it. She stepped forward, joining Kara and Harry in the castle. The trio were going to continue the lessons that Kara and Harry started. Thankfully, it was easy to her up to speed.<p>

"I didn't know…..I didn't know," Daphne whispered. She blinked when she looked around. She shook her head.

Kara grinned at her. "Struck completely speechless, I take it that's a first for you."

"I'm just….wow," Daphne murmured underneath her breath. She could not believe what she saw.

"Yes, wow, very wow," Kara said. She couldn't help but needle Daphne just a little bit about it. "I said about the same thing when I saw it."

"She really did," Harry informed her. "So, are you…."

"I have a feeling that Astoria will bug me for weeks if she gets any hint of what I'm seeing here," Daphne said.

Kara couldn't help but chime in with a certain point. "You know, everything that you've seen here is just the front hallway. There is so much more."

Daphne wasn't really surprised that there was far more than she saw her. The blonde's mouth hung open.

"You know, your face is going to freeze like that if you keep it up," Harry told her. "The library is this way."

Daphne was trying to rack her brain trying to explain how this could be done by magic. There was a certain feel that there was something far beyond any known magic that was powering this castle.

"Don't try to overthink it, for it just is," Harry informed her.

Two of his four future wives joined him in the library. Daphne's eyes swept over stack after stack of the glowing crystals that were in the library.

"Some of the greatest magical minds in the universe," Kara informed her.

"The universe?" Daphne asked. "You mean that there is life on other planets. You mean that there is magic on other planets?"

Kara nudged Harry and smiled. "She lives in a world with unicorns, dragons, vampires, and other fantastic creatures, and yet, the life on other planets is the one thing that she can't figure out."

"Well, it's possible," Daphne admitted. Everything came to her nice and clearly right now. "You do have to keep an open mind."

"A nice perspective, you would have done well underneath my wing," Rowena Ravenclaw said when she popped up.

A three dimensional holographic projection of Rowena Ravenclaw popped up in front of young Daphne Greengrass. Her eyes shifted over the image in surprise. It was a three dimensional living and breathing version of a magical portrait.

It was weird, most Muggleborn and Muggle raised saw those magical portraits to be extremely out of this world. And she was seeing something that was out of this world by the standards of magic.

"I do think though that the house system has done Hogwarts a discredit, typecasting people at a young age," Rowena answered.

"You mean that wasn't something that was set up by the Founders at Hogwarts?" Daphne asked. She assumed that the founders left behind the Hogwarts sorting hat.

"In his later years, when his sanity had long since left him, Godric had set up the Sorting Hat as a gift for our protégées to help them figure out the strengths and weaknesses of various students and set them up to get the most out of their magical education," Rowena explained.

Kara smiled. "That sounds like a good idea in theory."

"Yes," Rowena agreed. "It sounds like a good idea, but only in theory. In practice, the magical enchantments within the hat took a life of their own. Eventually the house system was devised based on our most simplistic qualities. And eventually, it just became a legacy system. With some notable exceptions, everyone from a certain family was in Slytherin or in Gryffindor or in Ravenclaw or in Hufflepuff."

"My mother was a Ravenclaw, my father was a Slytherin," Daphne informed her. "But somehow they got along. What were the relationships like between the founders, truthfully?"

Harry and Kara were also curious about this. They knew that there was an official account of the Founders, but who better to hear it than the source.

"Well, Salazar was a schemer, but he did see a few things that were coming sadly, even if he tried to go about delaying them in a rather twisted way," Rowena added. "Godric, he was your typical hero. Bold, brave, brash, and he tended to leap first before he looked. He also had a soft heart, was willing to give people second chances and attempt to redeem those who would sooner take his heart out and stomp on it."

Rowena shook her head.

"Helga worked herself to the day she died," Rowena answered. "The hard working aspect of Hufflepuff is accurate and she could be loyal to those who did her right. But she did have a spiteful side to her a mile long. Let's just say that her bad side wasn't a good place to be."

Harry thought that she pretty much summarized things nice and easily.

"But, I'm certain that the other three have their own unique perspectives on what happened if you come across their journals in there," Rowena added. She smiled when the three sat down. "And I believe that we were on Chapter Three. Miss Greengrass, do not be afraid to speak up if you have any problems with any of the material. Learning is all about questioning the source material and not taken it at face value."

That was her vision of the Ravenclaw house. People who were inventive enough not to blindly follow the source material to the absolute letter, which sadly some people didn't follow that ideal. If Rowena could get through one student, that would be really good.

* * *

><p>Harry was joined by Alura and Kara on their way to the Tonks residence. He had to say that he was looking forward to meeting the last of his future wives. Well, at least the last of them for now, you never truly knew what the future led.<p>

"So, she wasn't told about this contract," Kara said.

"Did you know about yours?" Harry asked her.

"Yes, I did," Kara informed her. "But…"

"Don't blame Kara for that, it was my fault for telling her not to tell you about that," Alura said to Harry. She felt a bit of guilt at betraying his trust.

"Don't worry about it, all is forgiven," Harry informed her.

Alura was pretty glad about that. It seemed like Kara and Harry, along with Daphne, had burned through the first three years worth of material at Hogwarts. In another time, that was a solid first year's education. Educational standards certainly changed over the last thousand or so years.

A knock on the door announced their arrival. Andromeda stuck her head out of the door and smiled.

"Alura, welcome, and Harry and Kara as well," Andromeda said. "I was just finishing dinner."

"It does smell nice," Harry said.

"Well, thank you," Andromeda said with a smile. He took her hand and kissed her on it.

Andromeda closed her eyes. Things felt a bit odd. It almost felt like she was having chills blown down her spine from that action. She stood up straight, and didn't say anything, especially as Alura's eyes met hers.

"Why don't the three of you come in and make yourself at home?" Andromeda asked.

Harry smiled and he stepped inside right away. Kara walked next to him and the two of them looked around with each other.

A tall girl with spiked purple hair appeared at the door. She was wearing a nice set of robes, which offset the hair something fierce. It was most likely a contradiction.

"You must be Nymphadora," Alura said to her.

"Yeah, Nymphadora Tonks, but please call me…"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nym," Harry said, walking towards her. He approached her.

Nym looked at him. If you saw Harry Potter from a distance, you might have seen nothing over than your average eleven year old wizard. Looking at him up close, it showed that he looked like a different thing entirely.

"Hello," Nym said. She bit down onto her lip when she approached him. Her breathing became slightly labored when she moved in to close the gap towards him. "You must be my future husband."

"Yes, I am," Harry said. "Now, I understand you just learned about this."

"Yeah, I learned about this around the same time you did, well a couple of days later," Nym answered him. She was looking him over. "So, why didn't you go through the magical maturation thing?"

"Nymphadora," Andromeda told her daughter.

"There's a quirk with my magic that I have to iron out," Harry said. Andromeda shut the door behind her.

"Why don't we go into the kitchen, so we can explain that to you," Andromeda told her daughter.

Nym nodded, she was really curious. A quirk with his magic could mean any number of things. She was trying to figure out what it meant.

She realized that she was standing next to Harry Potter of all people. Everyone heard the stories about him. As she aged, she realized that these stories were likely a whole lot of dragon dung.

None of the stories that were told about the "adventures" of Harry Potter were anywhere near as interesting as what was happening in real life.

"Everyone expected you to go to Hogwarts," Nym told to him.

"You know what happens to people who assume," Harry informed her. Nym raised her eyebrow and she frowned.

"Well, yeah," Nym agreed. She and Harry walked over when they entered the kitchen.

For once in her life, perhaps for the only time in her life, Nym was on her absolutely best behavior.

"Dumbledore's trial is in a couple of weeks, and they say that you're going to be the star witness," Nym said to him. There was one of those mother looks that her mother gave her that caused Nym to wilt. "I'm really sorry that….if you didn't….oh boy, I just stuck my foot into my mouth, didn't I?"

"Yes, a little bit," Harry reminded her. He held his fingers apart to show her. Nym's lips curled into an obvious frown. "But to answer your question, I am going to be the star witness and to answer your other question, I'm not going to be nervous on the stand. I know what I'm doing."

Nym whistled lightly when she looked into Harry's eyes. She knew completely what was happening. Her heart skipped a couple of beats when she looked into Harry's eyes.

"You know what you're doing, do you?" Nym asked her.

"I want to look Dumbledore in the eye and get the answers," Harry said.

Andromeda didn't say anything. She thought that it might seem a bit cynical to wish Harry good luck. There had been many adults who struggled to get a straight answer out of Dumbledore. Even when Dumbledore was telling the truth, you got a feeling that he was telling some sort of lie. It was kind of infuriating to deal with.

"Do you think that he'll get in trouble?" Nym asked.

"I think that he has a lot to answer for," Harry replied. He was going to squeeze the answers out of Dumbledore one way or another.

Kara could see that her mate was rather dedicated to getting these answers. She decided to steer the conversation into matters that were more fun and less business like. There would be plenty of time to worry about that before the trial. "So, Nym, you're training to be an Auror at the Ministry, aren't you?"

"Well, I'm almost one hundred percent sure that I want to be an Auror," Nym commented.

That was news to Andromeda. She looked in Nym's eyes. "What changed? Wasn't that your heart's ambition about a week ago?"

"Well, I've taken a look and it might be ten years before I even am able to go on missions without a chaperone," Nym said. "I still want my NEWTs because I don't want to spend any more time at Hogwarts than I have to."

"Don't worry, I think we all understand," Kara said. She thought that she dodged a bullet by not going to Hogwarts herself and more importantly Harry did as well.

"What worries me is that Dumbledore isn't going to give this one up easily," Andromeda said. "There are already rumblings in the Wizengamot that he wants to try and make a Hogwarts education mandatory to anyone who wishes to be issued a wand."

Both Kara and Harry grinned at each other regarding thing.

"Shame that I'm not subject to that little thing, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"It's a real shame," Kara said.

"Seriously, you can do magic without a wand?" Nym asked. Harry raised his eyebrow.

"Do you need a wand to morph your body?" Harry asked her.

"Well no," Nym agreed. "But….wait a minute, how did you know that?"

"There are only five magical shape shifters in the world, they're registered with the Ministry so they don't abuse their power," Harry said.

"Only five registered Metamorphs," Nym reminded him. "There are a lot of unregistered I'm sure. But it isn't like I hid the power under pretext of being normal."

"Something tells me that you're not the type," Harry said.

Nym smiled him. "Well, if you got it, flaunt it….and you never did tell us what the weird magical anomaly thing that has caused you to not be able to go through the magical maturity ritual was."

Harry knew that they were going to get back around to this eventually. They all knew that they were going to get back around to this eventually. Despite the fact that Nym was tripping over her words trying to ask that question, Harry figured that it would be a curiosity.

"What do you know about Horcruxes?" Harry asked her. Andromeda looked at him and looked at Nym.

"Not really that much, I remember reading a reference to them, but the book really didn't say too much about them," Nym said. "They're supposed to be really bad dark magic, I think."

"Really bad dark magic doesn't even begin to describe what Horcruxes are," Harry informed her. Nym's gaze locked onto Harry's eyes after a few seconds. "I think that I better explain this from the beginning."

"I'm all ears," Nym said. She could sense that it was something that Harry didn't want to talk about, but as one of his future wives, she had to know.

* * *

><p>Charlotte Granger got the news that pretty much any single person dreaded to hear. The fact was that her husband and daughter were involved in a serious car accident put a damper on her day. Her daughter wanted to take one more trip to the library before she went to Hogwarts and David agreed to take her.<p>

Her husband died upon impact. The drunk driver died on impact. Hermione was the curious one.

She was found on the pavement outside of the car. She wasn't bleeding which would account for her flying through the windshield. There was no cuts, no bruises, nothing to indicate that she was wrong under than her lapsing into a state of unconsciousness.

Charlotte knew the logical explanation for why Hermione didn't die. Telling the doctors though would give her a one way trip to the madhouse. And she was certain that the reason for her daughter's exhaustion was based off of some kind of magical explanation.

The beautiful brunette women were in and out of the hospital for the past five days. The doctors could find nothing wrong with Hermione, there was no physical injury. There were more test ran than any young girl should go through.

Charlotte hoped that today would be the day that they would find something wrong. Not that she wanted anything wrong with her daughter, but the fact is that they were starting to ask questions.

Surely those people had a way of monitoring the injuries of those who had magical abilities. Charlotte didn't see anyone out of the ordinary, the doctors were the same every day. It was almost like they didn't know and Charlotte couldn't tell them.

Her doctor made his way down the hallway. There was a stoic expression on his face when he walked towards her.

"Is there any progress?" Charlotte asked her. It was the same question she asked the doctor for five days.

"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Granger," the doctor said in a sympathetic voice. He had five daughters of his own, so he could only imagine what she was going through. "All indications is that she is completely healthy outside of the exhaustion. I don't understand what is happening. Are there any diseases that was in your husband's family or your family?"

Charlotte frowned when she racked her brain for any ideas. "Not to the best of my knowledge, no."

The magic explanation was most certainly out. Charlotte's attention was diverted because of two rather peculiar men walking down the hallway and she was followed by a woman. The man stopped in front of the doctor.

"Is Hermione Granger at this hospital?" one of the men asked.

"I'm afraid that I cannot disclose that information," the doctor commented to him.

"It's a shame, we were the specialists called in to take a look at Miss Granger," one of the men stated.

Charlotte could have sworn that she saw something up the man's sleeve. Then the eyes of the doctor dilated for a brief second.

"Oh, yes, you should have told me from the beginning," the doctor said in a slurred voice. Charlotte could have sworn that he had a stroke. At least that's what he sounded like.

"Excuse me, are you the specialists that have been brought to take a look at my daughter?" Charlotte inquired to them.

"Yes," one of the men stated. The woman stepped forward.

"Mrs. Granger, I wish to speak for you for a moment, it's about your daughter's condition, and we can't discuss this in front of…..people who don't know about her unique circumstances," the woman whispered after a second. "I need to explain where she'll be moved."

"Wait, don't I get a say in this?" Charlotte protested.

"Just walk this way, I'll explain everything to you," the woman commented in an even voice, leading Charlotte down the hallway. "Your daughter's outburst caused a lot of people to question how she survived. We have reason to believe that a flash of light impaired the man that struck your family's awfulmobile."

"Awfulmobile?" Charlotte asked, wondering if these people were on Meth. She wouldn't be surprised.

"Your daughter preformed an accident feat of magic, that left her drained as she had been for the past five days," the woman explained to her, without even considering Charlotte's questions. "The Muggles are asking questions, too many questions."

Charlotte recalled that a Muggle was a name for non-magical people. It sounded like of derogatory, but that could be the way that this woman was saying it, more than anything else.

"Your daughter will be transferred to St. Mungos where she will get the treatment she needs to repair the damage," the woman told Charlotte with a sunny smile. "And then everything will be all sunshine and roses. Won't that be nice?"

Charlotte now had the impression that this woman was talking to her like she was five years old, six if she was being charitable. As a woman with three Doctorates, she found being spoken to in such a way highly offensive.

"You're just moving my daughter to your hospital….a hospital that I have no idea where it is and have no idea to visit and I have no idea when she'll be better, if she'll get better," Charlotte said. She furrowed her eyebrow.

"Mrs. Granger, we have to destroy all of the records of your daughter's incident and modify the memories of the hospital staff and all of the witnesses, so they don't ask too many questions," the woman said in a sunny voice. "And…..don't worry, I'll be sure to be in touch with you and send you an owl when Hermione's trial is over."

"What trial?" Charlotte asked. She sounded alarmed just as any mother would. The fact that everyone in the hospital hallway was walking around like nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well, I'm afraid that Hermione broke the Statue of Secrecy, and exposed our world to the Muggles," she whispered. "That's against the law, performing that magic."

"My daughter was saving her own life," Charlotte hissed. She was getting hot underneath the collar. "And as her parent, I have to protest. My daughter shouldn't be put on trial for something like this. What kind of message does that send?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Granger, your daughter will just have to learn her lesson," the woman commented. She waved her hand and walked off. "And have a nice day, I'm sure that Hermione will be loads better after the fine people of St. Mungos are done with her. Things will be right as rain."

Charlotte was about to protest that she didn't agree with this. The only problem was that she would be speaking to the air because the woman was gone in a flash.

"Mrs. Granger, the specialists have taken Hermione away, everything is going to be fine," the doctor told her in a slurred tone.

"I didn't give my permission," Charlotte said. She felt violated.

"Your signature is on the release form," the doctor said, pointing out the signature.

Charlotte couldn't deny that her signature was on the form. She didn't sign it though. Those people who nabbed her daughter forged her name to the release papers by some charm and took her away.

"I need to make a phone call," Charlotte said, excusing herself when she walked off.

The goofy woman and her two strong armed goons were gone. Her daughter was taken with her and she was also being excused of breaking the law.

Charlotte wished that she let David talk her out of sending Hermione to Hogwarts. Although given the circumstances of what happened here, Charlotte very much doubted she had any choice of the matter.

They considered her less than nothing and that made Charlotte pissed. She was going to make them regret what they did.

* * *

><p>Amelia Bones returned to her office at the Ministry, where she would be meeting with Alura Danvers, Andromeda Tonks, and one Harry Potter. She was going through some of the notes and she would have to go to the International Magical Court for the trial of Albus Dumbledore in a couple of weeks.<p>

Harry, Alura, and Andromeda made their way inside the office. Amelia greeted them with a smile.

"So, I understand that you wanted to discuss to me about a matter regarding the Potter interests on the Wizengamot," Harry said, getting to the point.

"Yes, now that the will is open, you have the Potter seats, and now that the marriage agreements are active, the Black and Greengrass interests are yours as well," Amelia informed him. She placed some documents in front of Harry. "All you need to sign here and you'll be on your way."

Harry looked over the documents. The Ministry laws allowing technical minors to serve on the Wizengamot worked to his advantage. Realistically speaking, they made no sense. In the world of magic, they made perfect sense.

"The Potter, Black, and Greengrass blocs are the three of the top five voting powers on the Wizengamot," Andromeda explained to him. "The Dumbledore bloc is another one and that's why it's fortunate that he's not getting his trial at the Wizengamot, because there's a chance that there would be enough to get him off. The Wizengamot requires a three fourths conviction, while the International Magical Court only needs a majority conviction."

Harry allowed that to sink in. While the three sections of seats he had would get a majority, it would not get the majority needed.

"And there's a chance that Dumbledore will have to sign over his control to the Wizengamot to the Potter family if there isn't a sufficient amount of gold in his vault to cover the fines," Andromeda added.

"Fascinating," Harry said, reading over the documents one more time. "This trial could ruin Dumbledore, if he's convicted."

"Don't count out Dumbledore, he may still have an ace up his sleeve," Alura said. "Whether it's one impressive enough to sway the International Court, I don't know."

Harry knew that Dumbledore didn't get the reputation that he had for being a pushover. There was no doubt that he expected to get off and if it was anyone other than the Boy-Who-Lived, he would get off. Things were less certain now.

There were a lot of people who were dishing out dirt about Dumbledore now it was the fashionable thing to do. At least until Andromeda pulled some strings to shut that down, because the last thing they wanted to do was make Dumbledore out to be some kind of underdog or martyr.

"And welcome to the Wizengamot," Amelia said. "Best of luck."

Harry had a feeling that he was going to need it. Four wives he could handle. He had a feeling that the shit storm that was dealing with the Wizengamot was going to be an entirely different thing.

With that out of the way, Harry could block Dumbledore's little efforts to try and force him to go to Hogwarts. Futile as it might be regarding him, Harry didn't want others who had no interest in attending Hogwarts to attend.

"The only problem is Fudge," Amelia said.

Harry snorted. "Trust me, he's not a problem. I see people like him in Muggle politics. He follows who has the gold and the influence. And who is more influential than the Boy-Who-Lived?"

The three adults couldn't argue with that point.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

_So here's the chapter I've dreaded writing, but yet I had to write to move from Point A to Point B in this story. Yet, it didn't take too long to write. Go figure.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: The Trial of Albus Dumbledore. <strong>

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore never once showed any emotion regarding his upcoming trial. He did have a few problems to iron them out, but most of them involved Cornelius Fudge and his inability to run a working magical government with constant hand holding.<p>

The International Magical Court headquarters was a tall and imposing building. It towered over any magical building, with the possible exception of Hogwarts. There were members of the court from magical countries from all over the world. Some of the representatives came from communities that had no Muggle country equivalent.

Dumbledore didn't look nervous. He stood up straight. Dumbledore chose to represent himself, because to have an official magical attorney represent him would mean that he would have to let him in on sensitive information.

Amelia Bones and Andromeda Tonks were a concern, granted, but Dumbledore was sure that they were reasonable and level headed woman.

Dumbledore stepped into the courts, but two rather imposing gentlemen stepped up to greet him.

"Albus Dumbledore, you are to report for inspection," one of the men said to him. This wasn't a question, this wasn't a request, this was essentially a demand of some sort.

"I think that you can trust me," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.

One of the men put a note down regarding something.

"Hand over your wand," the guard said to him.

"I beg your pardon?" Dumbledore asked. He sounded completely confused at this request.

The guard's gaze matched Dumbledore. "Hand over your wand, the accused are not permitted to carry wands. If on the off chance you are found innocent, it will be returned to you."

"Off chance, it's almost as if this trial has been decided before the moment that I've stepped in here," Dumbledore said. He gave the guard one of those grandfatherly disappointed looks, but neither of them was buying it.

A third person, a woman, showed up. "It is just like you decided where Harry Potter would go to his relatives without anyone having a say from it…"

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about….." Dumbledore said to her.

"You know precisely what we're talking about," the woman commented. Her tone was calm. "Any proof that the Potters made you Harry's magical guardian haven't even surfaced. Which means that the only place where such claims exist are in the fabric of your deluded, addled mind."

Dumbledore wished that he had the trial in the Wizengamot. He would have gotten off without a problem. The International Magical Court sought to ruin the lives of well-meaning individuals like him. Couldn't they see the bigger picture?"

"Relinquish your wand, or we can add contempt of court," the woman informed him. Her blue eyes looked at Dumbledore and he frowned when he looked back at her.

"I expected better and I expected a fair trial," Dumbledore said. He handed over the wand, extremely reluctantly.

"A fair trial is what you will receive," the woman answered. "If it was up to many of us, you would be thrown in a hole that you'll never dig yourself out of."

Dumbledore had to relinquish his wand, but that was not the only thing that he had done to him. The next thing he knew, a pair of stone bracelets with glowing runes slapped about the area of his wrists. He looked at them.

"I don't understand…"

"You don't understand why you're being treated like a prisoner?" the woman asked. She looked at Dumbledore and shook her head. "Legally, kidnapping was the first thing that you did. Abandonment of a minor and reckless endangerment are another couple of things that you've done. And fraud against an old pureblood family, in your society, that's an extremely serious crime. And that's only the beginning."

Dumbledore decided that he would say his next words in front of the court. They would have to listen to reason. They lived in some dangerous times, and Dumbledore had to make the hard choices. Harry was still living and breathing, so he didn't understand what the problem was.

There was press assembled around the court chambers. Dumbledore tried to lift his face up to avoid being seen by the press, but a small jolt was given to him.

"All prisoners are to face front and stand up straight when being escorted into the court chambers," one of the guards said to him. "I'm sure that your adoring followers want to get a look at you now."

Dumbledore was lead past the press and the flashes of several photographs were done.

He was lead inside to a rather spacious looking courtroom. Amelia Bones waited for him at the end, she would be representing the Ministry of Magic, and was a witness. It was agreed to by all parties that Cornelius was not to come anywhere near the courtroom, as to not make Britain look like the laughing stock of the world by the International Magical Community.

That was one point that even Dumbledore was willing to concede was a pretty good idea. Cornelius would have made the entire magical community look inept by his mere presence.

* * *

><p>Was Harry Potter nervous? Maybe he was, just a little bit. It was something that he would have to get over pretty quickly, to be honest. The young man waited for Dumbledore to be lead into the court.<p>

Alura sat next to him, with Kara keeping him company. Andromeda was there as well and she would be prosecuting Dumbledore. That was not a job that anyone wanted, but she was someone who was a respected pureblood who didn't either have an agenda or sucked Dumbledore's ass.

The vivid imagery was too much.

"All of the proof is out there," Kara said, looking at Harry.

"Yes, I know," Harry replied. He frowned when he went over some of the notes that had come out during the official investigation. Andromeda shared as much as she would be allowed to do so during this time.

Harry got his first live look at Albus Dumbledore, as he was lead into the court room in magical shackles. He looked to be worn out.

"He's trying for the pathetic old man approach to attempt to get leniency with this court," Alura said. Dumbledore walked with a slight limp when he was ushered forward. "But, this court is rather….harsh at judging a person's actions, so I'm not sure what he's playing at."

"Maybe he's trying to angle from some sympathy with me, because I'm the only one that can drop the charges," Harry said. "And that's not going to happen, especially when he stole property from my family."

The fact Hagrid had the vault key to his trust vault raised some interesting alarms. All of the gold was present and accounted for, but there were other items in a Gringotts vault that were beyond gold. Even if Dumbledore didn't steal a thing, he still violated rights by holding a key of a minor when he was not a magical guardian.

Rose joined the group right before the trial was about ready to begin. She frowned when she sat down behind Harry.

"And there's a huge surprise, Dumbledore is giving you one of those looks like he's disappointed in you," Rose said. Harry turned around, giving her a frown. "Let him do it. Dumbledore likes to pull out the victim card and he has that way of making people look bad."

The head of the court looked down at Dumbledore from the bench she was sat at. It was like Dumbledore was a school child that was brought before a figure of high authority. That was not a feeling the Headmaster had in a long time.

"The International Magical Confederation brings forth a case of high fraud against the House of Potter, perpetuated by Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore," the head of the court commented. "Based on the evidence given, the court has concluded that Dumbledore had willingly and knowingly deprived Lord Potter of his rights and had sent him to a location that was contrary of the wishes of his parents. He also aided and abetted in the endangerment of a minor and falsely claimed to be the young lord's magical guardians, in spite the fact that no such record exists."

"I think that these claims are not true, you misunderstand that what I've done was done to protect Harry Potter," Dumbledore commented.

"You have ignored the court's request to present evidence in your favor, hence we interpret your denial of evidence as the fact that evidence doesn't exist," the woman commented. "You have one opportunity to state your claim, and present any evidence that contradicts the will. And do note that any attempts to falsify magic will add to more charges being filed, on top of the mounting list of charges that are before you."

"I'm afraid that I don't have any evidence, but I can assure you that my word should be sufficient," Dumbledore replied.

The woman looked at Dumbledore. "You chose not to bring any evidence to your favor…..did you assume that you were coming to a tea party, Mr. Dumbledore?"

"You may check the records of Gringotts, there have been no withdrawals from the Potter Vault, up until the moment that young Harry was brought by Rubeus Hagrid," Dumbledore said.

"We have checked the records, and while money can be easily tracked, any other items that might be inside the vault are not and any items that might have been taken outside of the vault by James or Lily Potter would not be accounted for, perhaps on your suggestion," the woman commented. "The goblins were required to do an inventory on the house, to reclaim any items. Most items were found intact and partially within the wreckage of the Godric's Hallow cottage. The only item missing was the Invisibility Cloak belonging to the Potter family."

"I do have the cloak, but I was intending to give it to Harry Potter, when he attended Hogwarts," Dumbledore replied. He gave a look at Harry, but the gazes of Rose and Alura were more than enough to make sure that he didn't speak directly.

"You will hand over the cloak to Harry Potter's magical guardian within the next seventy two hours," the woman at the head the bench replied. "Given the appraised value from Gringotts, you better have it on hand, because there will not be enough money in your vault to cover the expenses of replacing it."

Dumbledore knew that just as well.

"And I must file a formal request to have the cloak checked out for any tampering," Andromeda chimed in.

"It will be noted and if the court agrees, that formal request will be made," the judge stated, when she looked at him. She bared down at Dumbledore like a nasty bulldog. "I trust you did see the Potter family will before it was sealed."

"No, I have not, but I….thought it would be prudent for it to be sealed, so sensitive information did not leak out," Dumbledore said.

"What would there be inside that will that would be a conflict of your interest?" the judge asked him.

"I'm afraid that I cannot disclose that matter," Dumbledore said.

"All I'm hearing out of your mouth is a load of baloney, Mr. Dumbledore," the judge fired back. "Either you're lying or your mind is so addled that you can't distinguish fantasy from reality. And I wish to allow Rose Evans to state her recollections of a conversation that you had with Lily and James Potter, regarding their house being put under the Fidelius Charm."

Dumbledore forgot that Rose was there.

"Miss Evans, I must insist that you not tell us….."

"Mr. Dumbledore, you will have your turn to refute her claims, now be silent," the judge said. Her eyes narrowed when she locked onto Dumbledore's. "Do not make me activate the runes that will force your compliance in remaining silent."

Dumbledore decided that discretion was the better part of valor and kept his mouth shut. At least until he could properly assess the damage.

"Albus Dumbledore felt that the best way to hide James and Lily from Lord Voldemort," Rose said. She paused for the automatic wincing, although none came. Voldemort didn't really step that far out of Britain so the members of the International Court did not hear about him. "Lily wished to go overseas to the United States to live with some relatives of hers over there, and there is a section of the Squib Potter line over in Kansas as well. But James refused to hear of it. She reluctantly agreed to do things his way. They intended for Sirius Black to be used as the secret keeper."

"Did you witness Black becoming the Secret Keeper?" the judge asked.

"No, I can only tell you what the intentions of Lily and James were, and I left afterwards, before the Charm could be performed," Rose added.

"I wish for permission to speak," Madam Bones said.

"Permission granted," the judge commented.

"The official Ministry statement indicates that Albus Dumbledore told Bartemius Crouch that Sirius Black was the Secret Keeper, and Black was thrown into Azkaban without a trial," Amelia commented. "There were eyewitness reports that stated that Black cornered Pettigrew and the next thing they knew, the street was blown up and numerous people were dead. These witnesses were all Muggles, so their memories were all modified after Crouch and his subordinates interviewed them."

"The only reason that Sirius Black, a potential guardian for Harry Potter, was sent to Azkaban, was Albus Dumbledore," the judge stated. "I believe that we need to call for a five minute intermission before we consider where to go hear next."

There was a lot of bungling at the Ministry of Magic. The council would have to take certain matters in hand. Black's conviction also called into question every single Death Eater trial from 1981 through 1985. While there were a few before and after that period, that was the main period where the Wizengamot was at its busiest. There might be more that were innocent and many who walked the streets guilty.

* * *

><p>Rose returned to her seat, after discussing some things with the main members of the Council.<p>

"Do you think that this will get Sirius a trial?" Alura asked Rose. Harry and Kara both listened in closely.

"The Dementors aren't willing to part with prisoners easily," Andromeda answered helpfully. "There isn't an airtight case without Pettigrew though. And he could have died somewhere in between that point and now, even if it wasn't on the day that he said it would."

Harry hated to admit that, but she did have a point. He didn't really know Black, and he had no idea what the man was like personally. That being said, it was not fair that someone rotted in Azkaban where others apparently roamed free.

The judge returned and Petunia Dursley was escorted into the courtroom in front of Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at Petunia and she acted like he was something smelly that had been dragged into the courtroom.

"Petunia Dursley, when did you find out that Albus Dumbledore was sending Harry Potter to live with you?" Andromeda asked, getting to her feet.

"It was the morning after, I found the boy on the doorstep, just left there," Petunia said. She looked sour at the memories. "He was left with a note. Dumbledore didn't even bother to inform me that he was dropping the boy off, he didn't even see fit to inform me in person that Lily was dead."

"Would you have taken Harry in if Dumbledore had asked you?" Andromeda asked.

"Absolutely not," Petunia answered. "In fact, Vernon and I drove him off to the Orphanage just that morning. By the time we got back, the boy was back on the doorstep, with a second note, and that note…..Dumbledore wrote that it was within our best interests to take care of him, for the people working for him would come for us and he had something that could protect us."

"Did you attempt to get rid of Harry after that day?" Andromeda asked her.

"No, we would have liked to, but we knew that Dumbledore was watching us," Petunia said.

"So, he knew enough that you tried to drop me off an orphanage, but did not that I was kept underneath a cupboard underneath the stairs," Harry commented in an icy tone. He looked at Dumbledore and Kara squeezed his hand in a warning manner.

"It appears so," Petunia said in a stiff voice. She looked offended to even talk to Harry.

"So, you monitored Harry Potter, but you didn't know that he was being kept in a cupboard underneath the stairs," Andromeda said. She looked at Dumbledore.

"I would have stepped in if Harry was in any sort of danger," Dumbledore said. "All that it matters is that he got to Hogwarts safely. The protections would have protected him…"

"The protections would have protected him no matter where he lived, that's how Lily configured them," Alura chimed in.

"We're getting off topic," the judge said tensely.

"So, you would not have taken Harry in?" Andromeda asked Petunia.

"Lily was well aware that I wouldn't take Harry in and she wouldn't want her son anywhere near myself or Vernon, so it was a situation that all parties benefited from," Petunia said. She gave Dumbledore a nasty gaze.

"And you benefitted from the money that was given for Harry's upkeep, where you gave him the barest of essentials and placed him in a cupboard underneath the stairs," Andromeda said. She put the records down with the paper trail that Gringotts followed.

Petunia didn't have a response for that.

"If Dumbledore learned common courtesy, none of this would have happened," Petunia said, deflecting all of the blame on Dumbledore.

"You should have learned to treat Harry as a member of the family," Dumbledore said.

Petunia snapped back. "Well, it appears that you didn't treat him much better, so I don't see how this makes me the villain."

"I believe that we have heard all we need to from Mrs. Dursley."

Petunia was escorted out, as quickly as she was escorted in. All of their assets had been seized, including Vernon's stock at Grunnings, just to pay the money that they owed the brat. They would be on the streets or worse have to live with Marge before too long. They had thirty days to vacate the house.

* * *

><p>There were a couple more issues that they went through. Things looked pretty grim for Dumbledore and Harry hadn't gotten a chance to say his piece just yet.<p>

"There is one further point that I wish to bring up to you and the fact the declining standard of Hogwarts education over the last quarter century," the judge said. It looked like she really bared her teeth for this one. "There have been less qualified students coming out of Hogwarts out of the big five magical schools and those who have been home schooled have acquired better schools on their Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations and their Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests."

"Hogwarts is considered the premier magical institution in Europe," Dumbledore argued.

"There have been some high end students who have come out of Hogwarts, but our studies indicate that they were in spite of the education at Hogwarts, not because of it," the woman answered. "For those who work inside the curriculum and the books, they are going to get a nasty shock when they realize that it won't prepare them for the real world."

Dumbledore prepared to open his mouth, but the judge was not done talking yet.

"The biggest dip over the past ten years has to do with Potions, taught by Severus Snape," the woman continued. She was hitting an excellent stride. "There have been fewer students who have decided to go onto Advanced Potions and less than a handful had come outside of the Slytherin house. The fact Hogwarts is still segregated with an outdated house system where all other magical schools have abolished them at least fifty years ago is appalling."

"I don't have any clue what this has to do with the situation at hand…"

"It has everything to do with the situation at hand," the judge replied tensely. "It is telling when many other prominent families choose to have their students home schooled or sent abroad, rather than pay for Hogwarts much cheaper fees. Therefore, the council has decided that a formal inquiry will be made regarding the current teaching staff and curriculum of Hogwarts, to see if they can pass International magical regulations."

"That would disrupt the school year," Dumbledore argued.

This entire meeting was not going his way at all. He could still salvage this if he thought of something.

"You should have taken the matter in hand a long time ago," the judge responded to him. "Lily Evans-Potter, one of the most gifted witches since the days of Rowena Ravenclaw, judged Hogwarts not to be an appropriate institution for her child to receive his education. If anything, the standards have dropped in the ten years since she wrote the will."

Dumbledore knew that an investigation of Hogwarts would uncover what he had planned at the school for this year.

"And now, I bring you to the final verdict of this case, and give you one last chance to give concrete evidence that you acted in the best interest of Mr. Potter," the judge said.

Dumbledore looked on with a twinkle in his eye. "Do you not think that the fact that Harry is still here would show that I acted in his best interest?"

Harry really wished that he could punch Dumbledore right about now. The look on Kara's face indicated that he was not the only one.

"Might I speak with Dumbledore," Harry requested on the judge.

The judge nodded. "As the person who is victimized by the fraud, you have every right to do so."

Harry stood up and looked at Dumbledore.

"Did you think that you would get away from disregarding the wishes of my parents, my mother especially?" Harry asked him. "Did you think that there wouldn't be any consequences? If you were my magical guardian, you were a lousy one, but you aren't."

Dumbledore said nothing.

"Cupboard under the stairs, you knew about that," Harry replied. "Why did Voldemort come after me in the first place?"

"I'm afraid that's information that I cannot disclose to you," Dumbledore said. He thought that he had a particularly juicy worm on the hook. "Perhaps if you choose to attend Hogwarts, I can…"

"Forget it," Harry said. "I'll just throw you at the mercy of the court."

Harry turned his back on Dumbledore.

Dumbledore frowned, he wondered where Harry went wrong. He should have been his successor for a bright new age.

* * *

><p>The Council deliberated for a long time. Each piece of information was more damning to Dumbledore than the last. There were slam dunk cases and then there was this one. It was airtight.<p>

Harry wasn't going to say anything, until the verdict was given.

The judge walked out, followed by the council. Dumbledore sat inclined on the chair, his hands folded on his lap.

"Albus Dumbledore has been declared guilty of all charges," the judge told him. Dumbledore looked at the council, but they didn't back down from the powerful gaze of the once most respected wizard in the land. "Albus Dumbledore is required to pay compensation of five hundred thousand galleons to Harry Potter."

Alura whistled at the thought of that. Harry turned to her curiously.

"That's a lot of money," Harry said when he did the math in his head.

"Well let's just put it this way, Dumbledore's Hogwarts pension is coming straight to you from now on and he'll have to sell off all of his personal property," Alura said. "He might just break even after that."

The amount of money was absurd and had Dumbledore consulted with a magical legal consultant, he might have had that drastically cut down on that by a substantial amount. The folly of Dumbledore trying to represent himself in a court that was out for his throat.

"Furthermore, Albus Dumbledore's teaching certification will be revoked and he will be banished from being the Headmaster of Hogwarts, his Order of Merlin has been revoked, and all of his magical titles will be stripped from him," the judge commented. "But, I do have some good news."

Dumbledore looked at the judge, wondering what good news could be from this. He lost all of his power, influence, everything.

"You will be allowed to remain on the Chocolate Frog cards," the judge commented. "But naturally, all royalties regarding the contract you signed with them will be handed to Mr. Harry Potter."

Dumbledore looked at the council.

"I don't see why you could ruin a man's life out of spite," Dumbledore said. His eyes went on the group with Harry right now. "The only thing that I have left now is the robes on my back and my wand….."

"Actually, your wand belongs to Mr. Potter now as well, as part of the compensation," Amelia chimed in. "Keep the robes on your back though, I'm sure that Harry will agree that's for the best."

Harry nodded in a calm manner, with Kara struggling to keep a straight face.

"And Albus Dumbledore will be sentenced to work for the next fifteen years at the Gringotts Labor camps," the judge concluded.

"Do I have time to get my affairs in order?" Dumbledore asked.

The judge gave him one of the most prominent "are you stupid?" kind of looks that one could ever give.

"The goblins are doing that for you, they are rounding up your possessions and will sell them off, with the profits being funneled into Mr. Potter's account to help pay for your compensation to him," the judge said.

The council agreed that if Dumbledore wasn't sentenced straight away, there was a chance the man would try to run. He might not get that far without his wand, but you couldn't take a chance.

"Dumbledore, you have nothing left to lose," Harry said. "So, you can tell me why Voldemort was after you?"

"Sorry, Harry, but I can't, you're not old enough to comprehend the reasons why," Dumbledore said.

That was the last Dumbledore said before he was lead out of the court room in disgrace. Harry shook his head.

"To the end, he doesn't want to admit he's wrong even if he lost everything," Harry answered.

"That's a stubborn hold man for you," Alura said.

Kara looked at him. "So, I guess we're done here?"

Harry was handed Dumbledore's wand. He looked it over. There was something oddly familiar about this wand, almost like it was different than any others. He had no use for a wand ,but he had a feeling that he better keep this one out of the hands of people who had a use of it.

He wondered if the court would have handed it over if they had an idea what it is.

"So, who's up for pizza?" Kara asked.

Harry smiled, that would be for the best. They had a few things left to do today, but after the trial, they could use a break.

It appeared that Dumbledore was no longer going to be a problem, which made their lives all that much easier.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Separation Anxiety. **

* * *

><p>The trial was something that was over and Harry was ready to see what the fallout was. There was one thing that was for sure and one thing that he could take to the bank. What was before, will never be the same thing again.<p>

"I bet you're pretty sick of having to sign papers," Kara replied to him.

"Why do I have a feeling that this is the beginning?" Harry asked her. Kara turned towards him, raising her eyebrow.

"Maybe because it's the beginning?" Kara asked him.

Andromeda and Alura followed the two inside to the office of Amelia Bones. The woman turned up and she entered. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement sank herself down onto the chair, giving a heaving sigh.

"I won't mince words, the next few months are going to be chaotic," Amelia said. "My job isn't going to be as much of a problem as Fudge's is going to be."

Cornelius Fudge might not like the International Magical Council jumping in and telling him how to run the Ministry. Would Fudge be stupid enough to try to defy them, given the consequences? Fudge did a good job at doing what people told him, Amelia hoped that there was someone on the staff that informed Fudge that it was a good idea.

Amelia handed Harry the documents.

"You can name a proxy if you wish to handle all of your interests, but I require a notification within the next ten days," Amelia said. She didn't know the next time there was going to be a Wizengamot meeting because things have been thrown into such disarray. "Although the next Wizengamot meeting might not be until October, if we're lucky. The International Magical Council seems intent of going through all of the trials like a fine tooth comb. This is the greatest scandal in all of magical history."

Harry shook his head. "Just think, all of this could have been avoided if Dumbledore had been up front and honest."

"I don't think the man is capable of telling the complete truth anymore," Andromeda said. "When you've told so many lies, you really are living in a world of delusion."

Harry hated to admit that fact, but it was likely true. He frowned when he looked over the documents and signed them.

"Andromeda, do you think that you could find someone who would be a good enough proxy for me in the court?" Harry asked. He looked her in the eye. "I wish for someone who can represent my interests."

Harry realized something and he turned to Amelia.

"Can I still elect to attend the court in person?" Harry asked.

"Yes, the proxy is only there to stand in if you're unable to attend the meetings," Amelia said. "I trust that for the really vital meetings, you'd want to have a say personally."

"Yes," Harry agreed. He turned to Andromeda. "So…..?"

"I'll see what I can do," Andromeda admitted to him. She had a couple of people in mind. "If not….."

"If you can't, then I'll have to find a way to work the Wizengamot into my schedule," Harry said.

"What about Rose?" Kara asked, piping up.

"I don't think that they would allow a Muggleborn into the court, would they?" Harry asked. He suspected that there was some backdated magical law.

"I don't think that she would be approved, no matter how qualified she is," Amelia answered. Rosalina Evans would be a pretty good choice to be Harry's proxy, but allowing a Muggleborn into the court would cause hell to put things mildly.

"Well, we'll find someone," Harry said. "The meetings are only biweekly are they?"

"Yes, but they can last a long time if people dig their heels," Amelia said. She spoke from experience. "The gears of magical law grind really slowly."

"I'd imagine," Harry replied in the driest tone of voice that he could manage.

Now business was done, it was time for the group to head off to lunch, and they had a couple more errands to do.

"So, is your daughter joining us?" Alura asked Andromeda when the group packed up and was about ready to head off to lunch.

"She wants to do some last minute revision before she takes her NEWTs tomorrow," Andromeda said. She actually was impressed, that was the most her daughter studied in years.

Harry paused and looked at the next court meeting. It would be happening on August 31st, the day before Hogwarts was supposed to occur. He found a couple of things odd.

"Just a second, I need to have one more word with Amelia," Harry said. He stepped over towards the woman.

"Harry, is there a problem?" Amelia asked.

"Is it normal for there to be a trial for underage magic and breaking the Statute of Secrecy before the person in question goes to Hogwarts?" Harry asked her.

Amelia blinked. "No, why?"

"Then why someone on trial for it?" Harry asked her.

"That's very odd," Amelia muttered. She frowned. "I'll look into it, and see what's up. It says here that she's in St. Mungos, recovering from injuries of trying to perform complex magic truly and completely above her abilities."

"She's a Muggleborn?" Andromeda asked sharply.

"Granger isn't a last name I know, so I assume so," Amelia replied, skimming down the list. "That explains a lot."

It explained a whole lot come to think of it. Amelia waved them off. The Misuse of Magic Department was notorious about being trigger happy with the warnings, especially regarding Muggleborns and Muggle-Raised. It was unprecedented for someone to get such a warning before even stepping foot inside a magical school.

Amelia wondered Fudge or someone in his office had pulled something rotten in an attempt to save face because of the Harry Potter scandal. It would be just like them to do something really desperate.

* * *

><p>"I wish I could say that I couldn't believe that you never enjoyed pizza, but I know better," Kara said, chewing down on what she was eating. She had quite the interesting look on her face.<p>

"A bit too spicy for you?" Alura asked her daughter in amusement.

"No, I'm good," Kara said, allowing a breath to escape her body. She licked the sauce off of her fingers.

Harry smiled, shaking his head in bemusement. "You know, you're too much sometimes."

He thought about his schedule for the day. All he needed to do is take one last stop to Gringotts, and then he would be able to get the Horcrux off of him. When that was done, Harry would be able to finally get the bond maturation ritual.

Things that he wanted to get done before he even stepped into Wizengamot and put himself in front of those people. He wanted to get the respect that he deserved. They might be in awe because of the Boy-Who-Lived for a few minutes, but Harry didn't want awe because of some title a bunch of tools with sticks gave him. He wanted to forge his own identity.

Granted, he wasn't going to complain too much if that fame didn't allow him a few fringe benefits.

"It's almost it senses the end is near," Harry said. He placed his hand to the forehead.

"Good," Kara said, shuddering. It wasn't because of the cold snap that came through the eating establishment either, although it was a huge part of it. "Excellent, I don't want to…..it's just that I can almost see the twisted magic in that scar."

"It will be gone soon, and then we can go through our magical maturity together," Harry said.

"You do realize what that consists of, don't you?" Kara asked him. She couldn't help, but tease him.

Despite the fact her body wasn't caught up, her mind was still more mature, and Harry's was as well.

"Yes, Kara, trust me, I do," Harry said. "But, I know that you want me to show you how much I've been paying attention during Rowena's lessons."

"Be thankful that you're not being taught sex education at Hogwarts," Alura chimed in. "That's the sole dominion of the Potions teacher."

Kara and Harry pulled a face. Nym told them all about Snape and the fact that he would be teaching a sex education course made them curious about how everyone wasn't just turned off of sex in the first place. It was a disgusting, disturbing thought.

"Oh, that's not something that I even want to think of," Kara said, shaking her head. "That's so gross."

Harry would have to conclude with his future bride and Alpha.

"Well, I have a feeling that depraved course will be the first thing to go and hopefully someone who actually isn't bitter that they were turned down because of being a useless pile of grease infested bat droppings teaches the class," Alura said. "Providing Hogwarts does stay open long enough."

Harry looked extremely interested. "Is there a chance that Hogwarts doesn't stay open?"

"I don't really know at this point," Alura admitted.

There was little chance that Harry would go there, Dumbledore or no Dumbledore. The fact of the matter was that he would just learn his own thing. He could get his qualifications with his OWLs and his NEWTs, but other than that, there shouldn't be all that much of a problem.

* * *

><p>Business was done at Gringotts. Harry held an item in his hand. It was a silvery cloak that shined in his hand.<p>

Kara whistled when she looked at the cloak. While Invisibility Cloaks existed, true invisibility could be a really hard charm to do. Many of the higher end and expensive cloaks faded within twenty years.

This one lasted a long time. She looked at it and Peve's hologram popped up.

"You have it and you have the Wand of Eternity?" Peve asked him. Harry raised his eyebrow and she decided to elaborate. "The Wand of Eternity is also commonly referred to as the Elder Wand, the Death Stick, but it's one of three magical artifacts that I created. They were far beyond their time in both magic and also technology."

Harry thought that he read a reference to it.

"The Deathly Hallows?" Harry asked her.

Peve nodded in response. "It was my gravest mistake to create those artifacts. I was young, an inventor who thought that her creations would only be used for good. Little did I know that wouldn't be the case and that my inventions would be used for purposes that are most foul."

Harry heard this statement come from her mouth. He had to really feel for her.

"So, the wand from Dumbledore is one of the Deathly Hallows and this cloak is the second," Harry said. "What is the third?"

"It is a stone that has the ability to dissolve the barriers between the living and dead and recall lost souls," Peve explained to him. "The invention was more of an experiment more than anything. The only good thing, if you can call it that, is that anyone who uses the stone would be driven insane because their minds cannot handle the stress."

Harry nodded in response.

"I don't suppose that you have any idea where you can find the stone, do you?" Harry asked.

"It must be buried or lost somewhere, because otherwise the trail of chaos it could cause could be easily tracked," Peve admitted. "Some judge the Wand of Eternity as the most dangerous. The other see the Cloak is an unbeatable weapon. They're both wrong, it's the stone that's the most dangerous, for the user."

"The Wand of Eternity is supposed to be unbeatable, yet there are stories about people losing it throughout history," Harry said. Peve paused and nodded in response.

"There is a curse on it to make the unworthy reckless," Peve said. "The only one who can truly hold the wand is the one that has no use for it."

"Ultimate Catch 22 then," Kara agreed.

"Yes, but we do have other business to attend to, as it's nearly ready," Peve added. She hated to switch topics so abruptly. "The Horcrux removal process, it's nearly ready."

Harry was both excited about this, but he really had some misgivings about this. Who blamed him for having misgivings regarding this? There was really nothing else to do, other than await the process to take its course. Harry frowned and he looked Peve straight in the eye.

"Let's do this," Harry said.

She nodded in response. "Very well, step inside the chamber please….you may wish to remove your clothes at first."

Kara graciously stepped back. She couldn't really see anything from her vantage point. She nearly ran into her mother. Alura held Kara up and frowned.

Harry stripped his clothes off and his glasses were included in this. His heart raced when he stepped inside the chamber.

The crystals didn't burn him like he assumed that they would when he edged his way inside the chamber. As a matter of fact, the crystals tickled his skin. He was utterly surprised by this point.

"Just relax," Peve informed him gently. "I've made the process as painless as possible. But sometimes these processes don't end up going in the direction that they should in the end."

Harry understood it. He could do this. He shook his head and could feel the crystals tickle his skin.

He could feel the energy illuminate his body. Harry felt himself go under completely.

The next thing he knew, he was at the edge of a dark hallway. Harry could see many doors that he could walk down. The further he stepped forward, he realized that there were rows and rows of filing cabinets inside the rooms.

Harry took a step on in. Curiosity might have gotten the better of him this time. He rattled one of the filing cabinets.

The other filing cabinets around him rattled. There was a high pitched and inhumane shriek that could be heard.

Harry turned around. A black shadow loomed in the distance. It could not be grasped for it's form was mist and vapor. Glowing red slits illuminated from the shadows. The laughter echoed from it.

"All this time, I've been gaining power from you, Harry Potter!" the shadow whispered. His tone of voice escaped with a nice hiss. "And soon, I will take everything. You think that your soul is strong enough. This body will be mine once again, and Lord Voldemort will rise again!"

Harry looked at the shadow and it reached out with a pair of clawed hands. It tried to attack Harry.

An energy shield appeared in front of him and the apparition hit against the shield with a solid clang. Harry closed his eyes and pushed back.

"You are a weak, a sad shadow of your former self," Harry said. "You're not even the real Lord Voldemort, you're merely an echo. You've been leeching off of me for too long. It's time for you to leave."

"Never, I am Lord Voldemort," he hissed, his tone almost snakelike.

"You're sad and pathetic, but I can't imagine the real thing becoming much better," Harry said. "But then again, Tom, you never were that strong."

The creature's anger rose when it attempted to drive its sharp claws through the shield. Harry repelled it again. He could feel the creature getting weaker and Harry's hold over the mindscape was getting stronger.

He really had no idea where the name Tom came from. Harry closed his eyes and he recalled it. Tom Marvolo Riddle, the monster was once a man.

That's what he was still, a man. An extremely pathetic man who tried to off an infant child because he felt his power was threatened.

"You looked into the abyss and you blinked, didn't you, Riddle?" Harry asked him. The power of his mind erupted forward and launched the apparition backwards. "This is my mind, my body, and my soul. You're not going to take any of it. Not without a fight."

"I'll take you, I'll take it all!" the spooky shadow hissed.

Harry's mental energy ripped the soul fragment apart. It hissed, spurting what appeared to be blood. It tried to latch onto Harry with its tentacles.

He was not going to held it. A hand rose into the air and a loud clang echoed, like a bell being smashed.

Harry could feel his heart thump against his chest. The Horcrux was not going to leave the party without a fight.

"I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT!" Harry yelled.

Back in the real world, Kara looked alarmed when she saw Harry's body thrash and blood squirting from his scar. Alura held her daughter back by the arm.

"We almost have it out," Peve said. She checked the settings of the chamber. "He's not leaving without a fight."

Harry's eyes shot open and a large black cloud of smog shot out of its scar. Kara could almost swear that she heard a hideous hiss that will be featured in a few of her nightmares sometime soon.

"His vitals are spiked, we need to get him out of the chamber," Alura said. She looked a little bit nervous.

"His magic is healing the damage done by the Horcrux," Peve informed her. "To rip him out now would be fatal."

The pain Harry was undergoing would be immense. The Horcrux was completely gone and now he challenged all of his power within him.

The chamber broke open and Harry staggered out. He could barely walk, but other than that he looked in good shape. Better shape than someone who had just gone from the most awful of near death experiences.

"Harry, it's gone," Alura told her.

He collapsed onto the ground, or would have, had Kara and Alura not been there to catch him.

"Water, I need water," Harry said. His throat was completely raw. The skin around his forehead was sensitive, even though it was healing up completely.

The protective magic Lily used accelerated the healing of his body. And allowed his mind to assimilate the new information that popped into his mind, without it, he would be dead or at least brain damaged.

Alura managed Harry was off to get the water he needed, along with the rest that he needed. It would have been a lot worse if the Horcrux would have been removed later, but it was surely no picnic later.

* * *

><p>Charlotte Granger looked at the legally binding document in front of her that caused Hermione to be sent off for "special treatment." The problem was that her signature was on the document. She never once put pen to paper, but it was her signature.<p>

There was no difference in her normal signature. It was a one hundred percent perfect forgery and would past all standard tests for forgery. The naked eye wouldn't be able to see anything about it, especially since the doctors and nurses witnessed Charlotte sign the form.

Or they thought that they witnessed did so. The fact they could modify memories gave Charlotte a case of the shivers.

She was so engrossed with exploring her options, that she didn't even hear the knock at the door the first time. Her daughter was for all intents and purposes in a sticky situation. Charlotte didn't even know what would happen to her daughter at this point, but one could agree that it didn't seem to be any good.

The knock on the door grew more frantic. Charlotte just barely pulled herself away from what she was doing, allowing herself to sigh. The knock grew as loud as it was going to get and Charlotte got up.

"Just one minute," Charlotte said. She was dressed in a bathrobe and her hair was in disarray. To add to her fun and games, she had to deal with the fact that her husband's parents were asking a lot of questions that Charlotte didn't feel much of a mood to answer.

Charlotte wasn't in a pleasant enough mood so she wasn't going to take any shit from the outlaws er the inlaws.

A pair of women showed up on the front step of the house. One of them was a redhead female dressed in a nice sweater and a nice pair of pants. The other wore a nice female business suit that fit firmly around her body and high heel boots, although she looked a bit awkward in walking in them.

"Might I help you two ladies," Charlotte said.

"My name is Amelia Bones, I'm the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," the redhead said. "And this is Andromeda Tonks, she's a magical legal council."

"I would like to say it's a pleasure, but I've had my fill with magical people at this point," Charlotte said. "Do you think that it is justice to trample over the rights of the parents like that?"

Amelia wasn't going to say anything to reprimand her.

"Your daughter's case is a unique one and I believe that there is someone in the Minister's office that intended to use someone as a scapegoat," Amelia said. "The case was signed off on when I was out of the office and by the time I got there, it was too late to reverse the charges."

"What were you busy with?" Charlotte asked, tension rising through her tone. It was obvious she didn't want to tell or scream, but her temper was an inch away from exploding.

"A man named Albus Dumbledore was on trial for fraud and corruption," Amelia informed her.

This got the reaction from Charlotte that they expected. Her lips curled up in frustration. "The Headmaster of the school that I was going to send my daughter to got indicted."

"It was a complicated situation," Amelia said. She knew that this would take a long time to discuss. "But, our time is short and we need to talk about your daughter."

Charlotte offered the two women a cup of tea.

"What will it take to get these charges on my daughter dropped?" Charlotte asked. "Because, she was saving her life, and she got out a lot worse than anyone, other than my husband."

Charlotte kept her voice neutral and calm. She was seething at the entire mess.

"It will be your daughter's word against the court," Andromeda said. "Normally that would be a bad thing, given your daughter's blood status, but there have been certain changes regarding the court that might make that she will get off with minimal charges."

"What are the minimal charges that she'll get off from?" Charlotte asked.

"This is just a general estimate of the potential charges, please keep this in mind," Amelia told her. "She'll have her wand seized from her and not be able to attend a magical school for the coming school year."

Charlotte nodded. She didn't dare ask what the worst charges would be with this situation.

"If we get through this, I think that I'm moving my daughter out of the country and as far away from this mess as possible," Charlotte commented. She spoke with conviction. "It isn't about these charges completely, but…there are other reasons why I need to get out of the country for a while."

Charlotte didn't think that this was completely because of the charges that had been placed upon her daughter. It was a convenient excuse.

"As much as I'd agree with you, I'm afraid that one of the potential sentences was that Hermione is not to leave the country, and she'll be monitored in all circumstances," Amelia said. She looked at Charlotte. "She's a risk to International Security according to the Ministry and should be monitored."

"Is there anything that we can do to get around that?" Charlotte asked. "Can I even attend my daughter's trial or is that forbidden?"

"I will make arrangements for you to be taken there," Amelia said. She was watching the trial date and time rather closely, to make sure a fast one has not been pulled on her.

"Thank you," Charlotte answered. "I hope that this works out for the best. How is she anyway?"

"Not well," Amelia said grimly. That was not news that she wanted to tell the mother. "Physically, mentally emotionally, she's not well at all. Accident magic can lead to some unstable side effects and it's too soon to tell if she'll ever be the same again. I'm afraid, that's about all I know."

The medical reports had been sealed. Amelia hoped that she could force a court order to bring them out so they can be shared with Charlotte, because she did have a right to know.

"Thank you for telling me what you did," Charlotte said. She felt trapped and that was a situation that she didn't like at all.

* * *

><p>A loud pounding echoed in the back of Harry's head. He thought that he had been rolled over by a steamroller, at least mentally speaking. He realized that he was in his bedroom in the castle. Kara was sitting on a chair, but she was crashed out.<p>

Not even ten seconds after Harry woke up, Alura entered.

"So, the real question was how long was I out?" Harry asked. He looked at his godmother with imploring eyes.

"There was little time that passed in the real world, but inside the time dilation, you were out for a few days," Alura told him.

Harry could hear something thump in the back of his head. He closed his eyes and tried to return back to some kind of sense.

"That's nice, I feel like I went through everything to get that soul fragment out," Harry said. His smile was pained, but it was prominent. "I didn't deal without it without a fight, did I?"

"No, you didn't," Alura confirmed for him. "So, how are you feeling?"

"You want my honest assessment of how I'm feeling," Harry said. "I feel like my head got set on fire and trampled by wild elephants."

"That's a pretty accurate assessment," Alura said.

"Better than I felt when I was out."

Harry tried to stretch. Other the some residual soreness, Harry felt much better. Whether he felt good enough to walk around and move around.

"Hungry, thank you," Harry said. There was a large plate of food that was out in front of him and it was replenishing every second.

"I figured that you would need to eat to replenish your magic stores," Alura said. "You had to use a lot of energy to jettison the Horcrux from your head."

Harry's mind was buzzing.

"So, it's gone now, although the memories remain in the back of my head," Harry said. He frowned deeply. "And it's likely a good thing that I can't access some of them right now. Not while I'm eating anyway."

Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, really did have a depraved amount of memories. Harry didn't want to spend a lot of time sorting through them. His head felt like it was on fire though still.

"I have a good idea where all of the Horcruxes are, at least a general idea," Harry said. "He made five others and he intended to make a sixth, one of his familiar. He wanted to make it with my death, because he thought that it would be the most powerful of them all. He didn't succeed."

"Those Horcruxes should be far easier to destroy than it was to remove the Horcrux from you," Peve informed him. "The matter of finding them will be the tricky part and any protections."

"He gave a diary to Lucius Malfoy and the Hufflepuff Cup to Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry informed them. "I don't know where they went after they left Voldemort's possession though, that's the problem."

"Bellatrix Lestrange is in Azkaban and Lucius Malfoy should be," Alura chimed in helpfully. She could see Harry give her a warning look. It obviously was painful for him to recall all of this information.

"There is a ring of some sort…..it was buried underneath the shack that belonged to Voldemort's grandfather, his magical one, Marvolo Gaunt," Harry continued. He closed his eyes. "And then there is a locket that belonged to Slytherin, he placed it in a cave that he went to for field trips with the other orphans. A cave where he took young child and taught them a lesson."

Kara woke up at this point, sensing Harry's distress. She edged closer towards him and her hand touched the top of his.

"The final Horcrux, was Rowen's lost diadem, it is hidden at Hogwarts," Harry said, with a frown. "Right underneath Dumbledore's nose, and he never expected a thing."

"Maybe he did, you never know with Dumbledore," Alura said.

Harry nodded, that much was true. They would have to figure out how they worked with this.

* * *

><p>Kara and Harry were alone for a precious few minutes. It was a nice moment where the two were sitting together, just relaxing after the day that was.<p>

"I felt everything," Kara said. She leaned against him and Harry rested his chin on the top of her head. "You know, every moment when you were in there fighting the Horcrux. How awful it was."

"It was pretty awful," Harry agreed. He stroked her hair absent mindedly. "But, I think that if I can survive that, I can survive anything."

"I know what you mean," Kara agreed. She enjoyed the feeling of him running his fingers through her hair. "I guess if you can survive that, you can survive anything."

Kara pulled herself away from Harry and got to her feet. Harry got to his feet and faced her.

"You're going to have to be made of some really strong stuff, if you're going to be able to survive four wives," Kara teased him. She raised her eyebrow and added in a calm tone. "Or more."

Harry laughed. "They better be ready for me, because I don't think that they quite know what they're getting themselves into."

"I think that if we all work together, we might have a shot," Kara said. Harry grinned back at her.

"Are you sure about that?" Harry asked her.

The overwhelming power swept over Kara. It was obvious that Boy-Who-Lived or not, Harry was going to be a rather formidable sorcerer. Some hyphenated title didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

"Harry," Kara muttered. She could feel Harry get closer to her.

Harry smiled when their lips were inches away from touching each other.

"Harry," Kara whispered when he drew his arms around her after a moment.

Harry swept his arms around her and held Kara into him tight. The out of this world girl squirmed in his grasp and he swooped in towards her.

The first kiss was tentative, at least for a few seconds. It was tentative until the moment that their lips connected with each other.

Kara closed her eyes and felt her body warm up. His hands placed firmly on the side of her waist. It seemed like, in the fog created by this kiss, the Horcrux removal ritual jump started something. This kiss caused her spine to tingle and her toes to curl. The only thing that she could do was return it with just about as much fever as it was given.

Harry let go from her. Kara pulled away with him, her lips were swollen and she rested her head lazily on his chest.

"I'm not apologizing for that," Harry whispered to her.

"You better not," Kara fired back. His arms wrapped around her in an embrace.

"Well, it appears that we can't put this off much longer."

Harry and Kara turned around and saw Alura standing right in the doorway waiting for them. It was not apparent how long she had been there.

"This way please," Alura informed both Harry and Kara.

"It's time," Kara said. She wasn't going to lie, she was really excited for this.

Harry had been haunting her dreams ever since she reunited with him and Kara had been left frustrated that her body was not caught up with her mind.

"I figured that it was inevitable," Harry said.

"We have a private room sealed off," Alura said. "We're going to try and minimize any fallout from the ritual."

"What kind of fallout?" Harry asked. He was curiously.

Alura didn't answer straight away. She lead Harry into the next room, gently grasping his shoulders when she moved him on in.

"There are many people in the magical world that are married, but not properly bonded," Alura explained to him. "And there's the Alpha Male effect that kicks in with rare wizards and also there's a more powerful need to bond with able bodied and powerful females in general, when you're the last member of an ancient and powerful house."

Harry noticed that she said powerful females and not just powerful witches or magic users overall.

"Step through these doors, both of you and we can begin the ceremony. It is the duty of the mother or godmother to preside over it for their child, rather they be male or female."

Harry was more than intrigued about what was going to happen next. Kara followed him. There were runes drawn on the wall. She got a sense that her mother had this prepared for the moment that Harry woke up.

Alura followed them inside when they were completely inside.

"Anything that you feel inside this room, do not fight it," Alura told him. "It will hurt both yourself and your perspective bond mates if you do."

"I understand," Harry said.

Magical energy flowed through Harry. The young man breathed in and breathed out carefully. He had to say that this was a lot more pleasant than the Horcrux removal process. He didn't fight have to fight the psychotic remains of the self-styled dark lord that killed his parents.

His hair became more untamed if that was even possible. His eyes glowed with lust. Harry's shoulders became a bit more broader, his chest became more muscular, and he shot up about a foot in height, if not more. He wasn't some midget in glasses, mostly because the fact that he didn't need glasses.

Harry looked like he was about sixteen or so of age physically speaking. He wasn't eleven for sure, mentally or physically speaking.

Alura was intrigued, most maturation ritual bumped up the physical age from eleven to about thirteen or fourteen.

"Nice," Kara said. She gazed at the back view of Harry in a very appreciative manner. His ass looked rather nice, might look better later on.

"It's your turn, Kara," Alura said. Harry would take a couple of moments to come to his senses. The power radiating off of his body was intense, which made her glad that they were doing this in a heavily warded area.

Kara felt the energy bombard her. It felt warm and encouraging. Her clothes changed to fit her new body.

Her golden blonde hair grew out a little bit more. Kara became a stunning five foot nine inch bombshell. Her body was extremely toned and athletic as well. Her breasts strained against the shirt, perfectly round and juicy. Her waist was completely toned and absolutely heathy. Her red skirt fit around a snug ass with perfect hips. Her legs were the right mixture of being muscular and being sensual.

Kara got a look at herself in the mirror. Her heart started to race faster. The blonde stepped forward and nearly fell into the arms of Harry.

"You're beautiful," Harry whispered.

"Thank you," Kara said. She leaned forward and placed her hands on the side of Harry's face.

The kiss she gave him next was extremely intense. Harry's tongue swept into her mouth with ease and it was obvious from his motions that he was paying nice attention to his lessons.

Harry kissed her slowly on the side of the neck and Kara breathed when Harry kissed down the side of it.

Both of them were physically, mentally, and emotionally sixteen or seventeen years old now, at the age of consent as far as magical law as concerned.

"And now, your lesson truly begins," Alura said. "Harry, could you join me over here for a second? Kara, I want you to watch closely."

* * *

><p>Time passed, and Harry finally was satisfied more than enough. Kara rested against Harry's chest on the bed. She was sore, sticky, and yet satisfied with what she felt. A pair of bright blue eyes met Harry's dazzling green eyes.<p>

Alura was down on the floor as well, fatigued from what occurred.

"Well, the barriers managed to hold most of the time," Alura said. She got up to her feet, walking funny. The results of what Harry did to her was obvious, when fluids dripped down from the ground.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Kara was half resting against him, curled up against her mate. "Most of the time?"

"If they didn't hold, there would be an army of women outside of the gates, ready to fight to the death to get a piece of you," Alura said. "The lust would overwhelm them."

"But, it wasn't completely blocked, was it?" Kara asked. Alura shook her head in negative.

"There might have been more females that might have gotten a dose of Harry's power if they were in range," Alura informed her. She sat down on the bed, collapsing on the other side of Harry. That was all that she could do. She was glad that she took stamina potions, because that was the only way that she could keep up. Now the adrenaline wore off she was tired.

"Guess, we're going to have to sort that out later, won't we?" Harry asked Kara.

She nodded, as the Alpha to Harry's collective; she was going to have all sorts of fun.

"It might not have been as bad as it would have been without the barriers," Alura confirmed for them. "The Alpha Effect and the Last of Line Effect can both be unpredictable on their own and together….."

"Say no more," Harry informed her.

**To Be Continued. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: A Conspiracy Afoot. **

* * *

><p>St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies was one of the most prominent hospitals in the magical world and in fact it was the only choice for many in the British magical community. There were some rumors, some whispers about some less than ideal activity.<p>

Anyone with any level of sense knew that rumors were an extremely funny thing. There might have been some smoke to the fire, but it could have been just a little bit of hot air. Harry was trying to figure out what was going on here. He joined Amelia, Alura, and Andromeda, with Charlotte following behind him. Technically, Muggles were not allowed into the magical hospital.

Harry was able to work some magic to get her inside the front door. He made his way to the front desk, or rather Amelia did.

"Yes, Madam Bones," the receptionist at the front of the desk said to her. The woman's voice sounded dry. It was the type of person who really hated her job and was only there for some kind of paycheck. She was a person who looked like a zombie and sounded like one.

"I'm here to take the medical information regarding Hermione Granger," Amelia said. Her tone was calm and crisp when she spoke.

The receptionist at the front of her desk was steadfast. "Madam Bones, as I told you the previous time you were here, I'm afraid that I can't do that. The Minister's office has ordered that the records will be sealed."

"Wait, the Minister has ordered the records of a Muggleborn to be sealed, one that doesn't have any connections to anyone in the Wizarding World," Harry replied. The woman at the front desk was about ready to give Harry a telling off. That was until she realized who she was talking to. "I don't even know why there's all of this cloak and dagger regarding one underage witch who performed accident magic to save her life. I doubt anyone there even understood what was done."

"The Ministry modified their memories regardless," Andromeda said.

Harry frowned. There was a lot about these circumstances.

"St. Mungos seems to be underfunded, to the point where it can't hire the best staff, and it creats an environment that people have lost all passion for their jobs," Harry said.

"Yes, you don't need to tell me what I already know," the receptionist said. She wasn't too keen about being lectured about what she already knew, even if the person who was lecturing her about this was the one and only Harry Potter.

"But, I'm sure that a few donations are going to make a difference," Harry said. "And I'm certain that if you do me a favor, I can make sure that your job is a little bit easier."

Alura could not help but be both pleased and alarmed that Harry was taking a page of the Pureblood Politics guidebook 101.

"And I'm certain that once that money comes in, I'll tell you exactly how helpful that you are or if you aren't helpful," Harry informed her. "But either way, I'm walking out of here with the records for Granger. You can hand them over to me, or I can go over to your superior and explain to him why St. Mungos is not getting a generous donation. And a year after the Ministry cut its funding in half. I'm certain you need the funding."

The receptionist weighed her options. She frowned when she looked across at the young man before her and realized that calculating might be a good way to describe what he was like. "I'm not certain that the Minister is going to like this."

"The Minister doesn't need to know, if you don't tell him," Harry said. "I'm sure we can just make a copy of the records and no one needs to know."

The receptionist finally decided to move off in an attempt to grab those records. Alura turned to Harry.

"Playing to their pocket book, aren't you?" Alura asked.

"Would you have done any different?" Harry asked.

"No, and Lily would have been proud about how you handled this," Alura said and she smiled.

Charlotte thought that some of the circles that she hung around were pretty cutthroat, but this was an entirely different method. Amelia turned towards the Granger woman.

"I should remind you that….."

"I might not like what I find out," Charlotte repeated. It was like some kind of demented mantra. "But, it needs to be found out. It's regarding my daughter, and I guess that I have to deal with it, when I have to deal with it."

Charlotte's resolve was pretty strong. She hoped that her daughter had that kind of ability not to crack underneath pressure. Book smarts only got you so far and that was her husband's greatest flaw. He relied too much on doing things by the book that he backed himself off into a corner constantly.

The receptionist returned to the front desk.

"I never saw you," the receptionist muttered.

"And I'll be sure to send a reference to your superiors that you deserve a bonus because of your work and St. Mungos will be getting the promised donation within a day," Harry said.

It would be more than a substantial donation if he could get Charlotte's daughter out of there. Exactly where she would go from here, Harry didn't know.

"Harry, may I see that?" Alura asked. "I just have a feeling that putting Hermione here might have bene doing her a disservice and might have made her worse off."

That was the news that no mother wanted to hear regarding her daughter. Charlotte somehow managed to keep her chin up. That was all that she could do in a situation like this. It would be better off if she did this, then getting frustrated.

There were some thoughts that went through her mind and all of them were dark.

Charlotte eventually got tired of waiting. "Lay it out on the table for me?"

"There were parts of her brain that were damaged in her attempt to free herself," Alura said. "And there were certain potions that were given to her to put her in a docile state that made the matters worse."

"Wonderful," Amelia said.

Charlotte looked on. "Brain damage….that's not something that even magic could cure."

"The human mind is a very fragile thing," Alura answered. "It's possible to heal it somewhat, but there's more of a chance to make it worse. And the healers here, under the orders of the Ministry….."

"Not the Ministry," Andromeda said when she caught sight of the paper in Alura's hand. "Just one member of the Ministry, or rather someone in the Minister's office. We should have known that this was the case when the order came high up from the Minister's office."

"Dolores Umbridge," Amelia whispered. It was almost like she didn't want to spare that name any more than a whisper of being uttered.

"I take it that's not a good recommendation," Charlotte said.

"Bad enough that we need to get her out from underneath Umbridge's watch immediately," Amelia said. Umbridge always had an agenda of some sort, and it was obvious that something had happened that stirred her up about Muggleborns this week.

Werewolves were her normal targets, but there were other creatures that Umbridge managed to blackmail legislation through to make their lives less than miserable. Magical creatures got a rough reputation and being put into this corner to fight for survival didn't help that relationship.

"She's the epitome of what's wrong with the Ministry," Alura explained, both to Harry and Charlotte.

"I came across the name when reading up on Fudge's staff and I noticed her name attached to a few bills of werewolf legislation," Harry said.

They made their way to the room that Hermione was being kept at. She was in a catatonic state on her bed.

Charlotte closed her eyes. Harry reached over and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Yes, Umbridge is tied to that, she also managed to get a position underneath Fudge," Alura said. She paused and added in a disgusted tone. "Perhaps literally if half of the rumors are true."

"Oh, thanks a lot, I didn't want to eat ever again anyway," Andromeda said in disgust.

"So, what are we going to do with my daughter?" Charlotte asked. "We can't just leave her here."

"No, we can't," Harry said. He looked at the girl. She looked so sad and weak and it was obvious that the lights were on to an extent.

Harry hoped for her sake that she wasn't completely aware of what was going on. Some of these potions that she was being fed to "fix her mind" were real horror shows.

"This room is off lim…" one of the office staff said. He was followed by two Aurors, who looked like they had been smacked in the face with a two by four when they saw their boss standing there before them.

"I don't want explanations, I want you to return the order to the Ministry, and note that Miss Granger will be transferred out of St. Mungos, and transferred out of the country to a private facility where she can get treatment for her ailments," Amelia said. "And then, we will talk about why you thought it was a good idea to go around me and listen to Umbridge."

The office staff member realized that Amelia Bones was an extremely formidable woman and not only that, but she was not one to really be fucked with, for lack of a better term.

* * *

><p>"Miss Granger…" Harry told her.<p>

"Please, it's Charlotte," Charlotte answered him. "Your grandparents, they were part of the Inner Circle and my parents were as well."

It turned out that Charlotte's "book club" was not really a book club, but rather a meeting of an extremely secret society. While she wouldn't go too far in calling it some kind of Satanic Cult, it was still more than what means the eye.

The outlaws er the inlaws were right about the fact that it wasn't a book club. It wasn't still a satanic cult.

"Right, Charlotte," Harry informed her, smiling at her. "Your daughter, I never met her. So I can't really tell you what she was like. You'd know better than anyone else."

Charlotte nodded.

"That being said, no one deserves to be a pawn like she was," Harry informed her. "And no one deserves to be messed up."

Alura nodded in agreement. "I won't lie to you and offer you false hope. All I'll say is that she'll get the treatment that she needs to hopefully live a normal life."

"A part of her brain that retains information might be permanently damaged," Charlotte whispered. She read over that point. "Perhaps it's kinder that she's not aware of it….it's just that….well Hermione did have a gift beyond magic. She had a photographic memory."

"That's the type of thing that could be extremely useful and extremely dangerous," Andromeda warned her.

Charlotte agreed, she prided herself on being eventful and thinking outside of the box. Hermione was like her father. Charlotte tried to encourage her daughter not to be blinded by facts in books, but Hermione seemed so intent on emulating her father in an attempt to make him proud that went out one ear and out of the other.

"I suppose that I should be glad that she's out from underneath the eye of that Umbridge….witch," Charlotte said. She frowned. "Although, I don't think that witch offers the same exact insult value as it does in our world."

"There's a certain word that rhymes with it that works about as well," Alura said. She poured Charlotte another cup of tea, although there was something a bit more stronger.

"Do you have any idea what ever happened to Audrey?" Charlotte asked.

"I was thinking that if anyone knew, the Inner Cycle would have known," Alura answered. "I'm beginning to think that she was killed after stirring up too much, by Dumbledore."

"If she did get killed by Dumbledore or anyone connected to him, that's going to start a war the wand wavers aren't prepared to fight," Charlotte said.

"But, there's no proof," Harry said. "At least not yet."

There was a lot of circumstantial evidence regarding a woman who may or may not be dead.

"Thank you for what you've done all of the same," Charlotte said. Her eyes swept over them all. "And I mean that with all of you….whatever happens to my daughter…"

"There's a chance that she'll recover, but she won't be the same girl that you knew," Alura said. She did wonder how many other Muggleborns disappeared into the mist because of some Ministry corruption.

"If she comes out of this, we'll go from there," Charlotte said. She was strong, she had the perfect resolve. She was not going to falter, no matter what.

X-X-X

Amelia Bones had a stack of papers that nearly was touching the ceiling. It was always like this when there was an inquiry at the Ministry of Magic. She has to shift through the bullshit and find what was happening.

She did manage to cancel the hearing of Hermione Granger. Given that it was unlikely she was going to attend a magical school anyway to begin with, it was futile to begin with. Never mind the circumstances of where she was thrown on trial.

Amelia was expecting to get a visit from Umbridge any second now. The zero tolerance against Muggleborns was something that Umbridge pushed through and there were whispers that she wanted to put all Muggleborns under investigation for theft of magic. Fudge, in one of his only brilliant moves, had not fought Amelia when she tore the bill to shreds.

There was a knock on Amelia's office door.

"It's unlocked," Amelia said.

Amelia was not disappointed, when the one and only Dolores Umbridge was there in front of her. There was only one and thank Morgana for that.

"Amelia, I'm afraid that I don't understand something," Umbridge told him.

"What don't you understand Madam Umbridge?" Amelia asked.

"I understand that you made a motion to cancel the trial of the Muggleborn Granger," Umbridge said. "After the hard work my team made towards investigating her flaunting of the Statute of Secrecy, I would hate to think that you don't appreciate that."

"You sent Miss Granger to St. Mungos, and had forced her to undergo treatments that damaged her brain," Amelia responded.

"It was to save her life," Umbridge said. If the girl was brain damaged, it was of no great loss. She wasn't going to be anything worthwhile because she was of unworthy blood. Given the nature of her accidental magic, she would be dangerous.

And if she died, her organs were still viable. The Department of Mysteries could dissect her body and find out how the Muggleborn stole her magic. That would help restore the squibs that Muggleborns took their magic from to their rightful place in life.

"Well, she's been moved to a specialized facility, and if you wish to contest it, you should take it up with the International Magical Court," Amelia said.

"Yes, the International Magical Court," Umbridge muttered. She looked a bit disturbed. "Yes, they've been overstepping their bounds, raking fine, upstanding members of society over the coals like they do."

Amelia could see where this was going. Umbridge feared for her position at the Ministry.

"And they have not consulted the Ministry on what's been going on at Hogwarts, our owls have gone unanswered," Umbridge said. The Board of Governors always worked with the Ministry and did what was best for the Ministry. This International Magical Court worked against the Ministry and acted like they were a non-entity. "As a Ministry Approved Educational Expert, I'm rather disturbed with how the International Magical Court is handling this situation."

Umbridge could not have helped but think that the Court took one step ahead from removing Dumbledore. Dumbledore was the biggest hindrance to the Ministry. The fact that he would no longer be in Cornelius's ear made Dolores extremely happy, but not consulting her made her a bit concerned.

"Dolores, some of your recent actions concern me," Amelia answered. She didn't skip a beat. "I believe that you have overstepped your bounds."

"I only do what's right for the Ministry and best for the Ministry," Umbridge said. "I'm sure the Wizengamot will agree."

"Recent changes in the Wizengamot might indicate that there's a brand new Ministry on the horizon," Amelia responded. "But I'm certain that if you have a problem with anything that's been happening, you should take your grievances up with the International Magical Court. I'm only their liaison and the cooperation of the Ministry is essential for our continued existence to be an independent governing body. Something that I'm certain an Ministry Approved Educational Expert would be intelligent enough to understood."

Umbridge looked like she swallowed one of Dumbledore's lemon drops. She knew that Amelia Bones was one of the few Ministry officials that were supported by many and she got things done. The job she had was one that no one really wanted and there were only a handful of people at the Ministry who had the ambition to try.

"If that's all, Madam Umbridge, you can see your way out," Amelia said. She was extremely busy.

Umbridge wondered where this had gone wrong. Surely she wasn't causing such uproar over one stupid Mudblood?

Amelia returned to her work. Something told her that this wasn't going to be the last she heard from Umbridge. Far from it as a matter of fact, this was the type of woman who didn't give up, no matter what.

* * *

><p>September 1st was the day that many would be either starting or returning to Hogwarts. Only there would be no one returning and starting. The official inquiries from the International Magical Court on the restricting of Hogwarts would take several weeks. The most optimistic stated that there would be a late start by October 1st, while many wondered if it was going to take until after the winter holidays to do so.<p>

Daphne Greengrass on the other hand was equal parts nervous and excited. Kara stood next to her and her mother would be joining them after a moment. Harry made his way over to join the group as well.

"You haven't been teasing her, have you?" Harry asked Kara.

"No, absolutely not," Kara responded. "I haven't been telling her how we had sex for what seemed like days and we fucked each other's brains out."

"Oh, you're subtle, you know that," Daphne commented. Her nose crunched up when she smiled. "And this just proves that waiting a bit for the magical maturity does wonders on the brain. The mind catches up to where it should be, even the body doesn't?"

"And have you had any interesting dreams lately?" Kara teased her.

"Well, no more interesting than you did before the bonding," Daphne said. She looked at Harry. She could get lost in those green eyes for hours upon end. That caused her to be driven pretty much breathless.

Harry was looking forward to this. If Daphne was anything like her mother, this was going to be really interesting.

Speaking of Daphne's mother, Anastasia made her way there. She was dressed in a pair of robes that fit nicely against her body.

"Alura warned me how this might go," Anastasia said. She could see that Harry's Alpha Male allure and his last of the line allure would only strengthen the more that they would go along. As someone who studied pureblood culture from the moment she was old enough to study it, she would have to say that one effect or the other would be something else.

"She did give you the heads up then," Harry said. Anastasia turned around to make sure everything was in order, which gave Harry a nice view of her eye catching will.

'_Well obviously you have to collect the whole set, that's just how it's done,' _Kara thought. The entire mental bond link communication thing was rather weird, especially considering it only worked when they were in close proximity.

Over time, it might work when they were further away.

"The two of you have the mental link thing going on, don't you?" Daphne asked. Harry and Kara turned towards her and smiled.

She could sense a closeness between Harry and Kara that was intriguing. Daphne was just really glad that she was able to jump in on the ground floor of the pack. She would get a pretty high spot, even though Kara would be the Alpha.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you, if you need any guidance," Kara told her. She looked at her future sister wife.

"Did it hurt?" Daphne asked her.

"For a moment," Kara admitted. "But after that it was nonstop pleasure. I felt really good afterwards and even though we've been going on for round after round, I was ready for more…"

"I'm sure," Daphne said.

"But you know what really turns me on,' Kara said, the seventeen year old turning to the almost seventeen year old girl. Her tone of voice was pretty husky when she spoke. "My husband dominating women, that turns me on."

"You've never seen that, ever," Daphne commented. She paused and added. "Have you?"

"Well, my mother, I enjoyed what Harry did to you," Kara said. She leaned in close so only Daphne could hear her. "Do you want to see Harry do the same thing to your mother?"

Daphne wondered if she wanted to see that. The more she thought about that, the more she thought that she wanted to see that very much. The excitement of the blonde reached a fever pitch the more that she thought about that. She wanted to see that very much. Daphne wanted to see that more than life herself. She couldn't be more excited about something if she tried and her excitement continued to grow.

"Are you ready Daphne?"

Daphne was snapped out of the interesting visual of Harry taking her mother over the bed and taking her to task.

The oldest Greengrass sister was taken out of her stupor and Harry grabbed her hand. Anastasia stood before them.

"Don't worry, I'm ready," Daphne said.

'_The real question is, are you prepared for what Harry's about to do to you?' _Kara asked.

Daphne couldn't hear what Kara said. The devious grin that was all over her face told the story. Kara reached in and gripped Daphne's hand and lead her into the next room.

The room was an extremely elegant one. Daphne stepped inside and she would walk out as a woman in every sense of the world.

"Stand in the middle, please, Daphne," Anastasia said.

Harry remembered that Alura said that there were variances of the ritual, so not every family went through the same ritual.

Kara wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and leaned on in. She kissed him on the cheek. "Go get her, stud, I'll be sure to give some relief if she can't handle the heat."

"Oh believe me, I can handle it," Daphne said.

She could feel her body shoot up in height. While she wasn't as tall as Harry and Kara, she was still fairly tall. She was maybe a few inches ahead of them.

Her robes slid off. Daphne revealed a nice white corset that pushed up her ample breasts. They begged for attention. Her stomach was extremely toned. White lacy underwear and white stockings topped off the outfit.

Daphne made her way towards Harry and he reached forward, wrapping her into a tight embrace. The older Greengrass daughter kissed Harry fiercely. Their tongues seemed to battle for supreme domination.

Harry proved that he was the more dominant one. He threw Daphne down onto the bed and prepared to go in for her latest conquest.

Kara sat from afar, feeling Harry's pheromones go to work. It just removed any traces of inhibitions and hesitance a female might have had. It most certainly didn't make them do anything that they didn't want to do.

"Daphne, I'm going to show you what you need to do, now watch very closely," Anastasia said. She walked over and was overwhelmed with desire from this young stud.

The MILF wrapped her arms around Harry and stuck her tongue down his throat. Daphne watched, laid on the bed and frustrated, needing more.

"Mother, I already know that part," Daphne whispered. She ran her fingers down her body and nearly touched herself in some very sensitive places.

"Yes, forgive me, I got excited," Anastasia said. She unbuttoned Harry's shirt, but Harry grabbed her hands.

"Why don't you be a good mother, and warm me up for your daughter," Harry whispered to her.

"Believe me, I can show you how good I am," she whispered.

Kara thought that this was escalating pretty fast and she moved over, to grab Daphne's arms so she didn't try and hurt herself.

"Easy, honey, just enjoy the show," Kara whispered in Daphne's ear. "Trust me, it will be more than worth the wait."

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Hunt for Answers.**

* * *

><p>Sirius Black was going to be blunt, the last ten years of his life quite frankly sucked. He looked about as good as someone who was spending all of this time in the high security wing of Azkaban would be.<p>

The interesting thing was that he was pretty sure that half of the people in this particular wing would have hung themselves if they didn't fear what the Dementors would do with them if they failed. The other half of the people who were in this wing of prison were too insane to really care and half of that half thought that they were pixies.

Sirius only had one thought, that he was innocent. The Dementors couldn't take that away from him. It was a miserable thought. Then again, there was a lot about the Dementors that he didn't get. The fact that they bred caused shivers to go down his spine.

"Black, you have a visitor."

That was something that caught Sirius off guard. He had not had any visitors ever, well Fudge stopped by about every six months for an inspection. But Sirius didn't want to count Fudge, because Fudge was Fudge and he didn't count.

Still visitors, Sirius found himself equal parts intrigued and also extremely suspicious. He inclined his head. The human guard didn't seem to be one for conversation.

Suddenly, Sirius was caught off guard by the visitor. It looked like James, at least a little bit. The closer he got, the more Sirius realized that wasn't him. They just resembled each other about as much as two people with dark hair did.

He did recognize the eyes, Lily's eyes. He also recognized Alura and Andromeda who stood on either side of him.

Sirius could feel the young man's gaze bare down onto him.

"Sirius Black," Harry stated. Sirius looked at him.

"Yes, Harry, the last time I saw you…." Sirius said.

"You handed me over to Hagrid and I was sent to the Dursleys for ten years," Harry informed him calmly. "But there's no need to worry. The Dursleys and Dumbledore are both paying for what they've done."

Sirius heard the rumors about what happened to Dumbledore. The man wasn't going to lie, the fact that Dumbledore was disgraced did perk his spirits up. Dumbledore allowed him to rot without even hearing him out.

Then again, Dumbledore never did like him for that prank that he pulled on Snape. Which Sirius regretted, mostly because if it succeeded, it would have gotten Remus put down by the Ministry. James gave him a tongue lashing afterwards that actually put some of Lily's angry lectures to shame.

Dumbledore always had a soft spot for Snape. It made Sirius wonder about the extent of their relationship. There were just some things that you shouldn't really think about.

"They say that you betrayed my parents," Harry said. There was something stoic, detached about his tone that made Sirius a bit alarmed. He didn't think that it was possible to be alarmed.

"I good as well lead them to their deaths," Sirius added. "We pretty much outsmarted ourselves on that one, well the joke was on me."

"I don't find what happened very funny at all," Harry replied coldly.

"We never dreamed that Peter would have done what he did, he was a good friend," Sirius admitted. He couldn't deny that the little rat bastard was able to pull the wool over their eyes for an extremely long time. "A good friend who betrayed us….and a good friend that…I had him cornered, trying to right what happened. But he was one step ahead of me and made me out to be a fall guy."

Sirius sighed. Betrayal was the worst thing of all. He tried to take care of things the old way by settling the betrayal. He did have every intention of killing Pettigrew, because that's how things were done in old pureblood culture. Sirius didn't want to burden Harry with the debt of having to do so, so that's what he went out and did.

"If Lily was here, she would tell you what you and James tried to pull were both utterly stupid," Alura said. She frowned when she looked at Sirius. "And you do deserve every bloody moment that you've spent in Azkaban, even if it's not for the reasons that they say you should be in here."

Harry looked at Alura. He reached up and gently placed his arm around her. Andromeda hadn't said a word, but it was obvious that she wasn't about to get in the middle of this.

"Yes, I agree," Sirius said nodding. "Especially considering it backfired, but I didn't kill Pettigrew or the twelve Muggles or however many they're claiming died this week."

Sirius figured that that was just the bodies that were accounted for. There were many more injuries and many more people blown to bits and buried and never recovered. That's why Peter's deception was so good. He was able to scurry like a rodent.

"For the record, I'm sorry that this had to happen," Sirius said. "And if I had to do anything different, I would have made sure to get Harry out of the house and to your house before I went after Pettigrew."

"Yes, Harry should have been first and foremost, and not your vengeance," Alura said. She softened when she felt Harry's arm wrap around her.

"Harry made it out….well he is doing fine all things considered," Sirius agreed. "But, I'm stuck here and there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about what I would have done differently. And think about what would happen if I get five more minutes alone with Peter."

"Sirius, you know that the likelihood of being Peter being alive are slim to none, right?" Andromeda asked her.

Sirius looked up at his favorite cousin. "Maybe, Andi, maybe. But he did cut off his finger. All you need to do is find a rat without a toe."

"Well, that narrows it down," Harry replied dryly before either woman could say something.

"Pettigrew would have stuck close to a wizard home," Sirius said. "He wanted to hear what was going on."

"And you know this because?" Alura asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I know Peter, you don't sleep in the same room with someone for seven years and be friends with several more without picking up on some of his habits."

"And yet, you didn't see this coming?" Harry asked.

"I didn't know him as well as I thought," Sirius conceded bluntly. "But, I suspect that's he's in a magical home. Someone who was close to Dumbledore. He wouldn't dare enter a home of any of the darker or neutral families."

"That might be a good place to start," Andromeda agreed. Of course, there was also a chance that Peter could have not done as Sirius predicted or he succumbed to the elements shortly after he faked his death before he could find a home.

"Yes, I would suggest looking into anyone who was in the Order or had relatives in the Order and were known for having their nose in Dumbledore's ass so much they smelled like lemon drops," Sirius mused.

"We will get you a trial one way or another," Andromeda said.

"I would like to get out of Azkaban, if I can," Sirius admitted. He was surprised not to see the Dementors hovering around and causing Harry, Alura, and Andromeda fits. He wasn't about to look a gift Hippogriff in the mouth though. "Some place warm, with absolutely no fog or soul sucking monsters."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, we still had to uncover the rodent," Alura warned him.

"You can be some a downer sometimes, Alura," Sirius said with a smile. The icy stare Alura gave him caused him to calm down. The fact that she considered him responsible for Harry's predicament at the Dursleys, at least in part, because he went half-cocked in a revenge plot. "So, how's Kara?"

"She's fine, she's excelled well, and she'll be a powerful sorceress in her own right," Alura said crisply.

"That's good, like mother like daughter," Sirius said nodding.

"Yes, and she's already bonded with Harry," Alura informed Sirius. "We'll see you if we have any tangible information."

"Right," Sirius agreed. He had a lot to think about. "Oh, and Harry, it was good meeting you face to face, even though I wish there wasn't a magical barrier in between our faces. Hopefully next time we see each other, I'll be out."

"Maybe with any luck," Harry said.

"I don't need luck, I just need a fair trial," Sirius said. He thought that now the International Magical Courts were looking into a lot of things regarding the Ministry and their conduct during the war, he might get it.

Without Pettigrew though, he was fucked about six ways from Sunday.

Harry, Alura, and Andromeda left the prison. The Dementors fluttered back in, looking rather nervous when they passed the group for some reason. At least they assumed that the creatures looked nervous. With Dementors, you never really could tell that much.

"So, that really didn't tell us any more than we didn't know," Harry said to both women.

"Well, Sirius did seem to have a good idea where Peter might have been," Andromeda said. "A traitor to the Order being underneath the nose of one of their own, well technically one could argue that Peter betrayed the Death Eaters in his own way."

"Yes, giving them information that lead to their master's demise," Alura added. "Never thought Sirius wasn't an idiot, he just lacked a fair amount of common sense."

"Do you really think that he deserves to be locked up in Azkaban?" Harry asked.

"Not completely, but the way he reacted, he should have seen this coming a mile away," Alura said. "The old pure blood laws weren't going to apply now."

Andromeda went her separate way from Alura and Harry. The two of them made their way back home where Kara was waiting for them.

"So, is there any luck?" Kara asked.

"Well, we did talk to Sirius, and he gave his side of the story, although there's still a lot of problems," Alura informed her daughter. "He reckons though that Pettigrew is posing as a pet from one of the Dumbledore supporting families."

"Well, that narrows it down, only not really," Kara said. She looked at her husband.

"Maybe, I don't know what kind of person poses as a rat for twelve years," Harry said slowly.

"The type of person who fears redemption from both sides," Alura told him.

Harry nods, that does make sense. Pettigrew betrayed everyone. There were people on both sides that might be angry. Sirius was not the only person who would have wanted to kill them.

"I'm surprised no Death Eaters spoke up about this," Kara said thoughtfully.

"Sirius Black is mud in the eyes of purebloods, so they're not doing a blood traitor any favors," Alura reminded her daughter. "And who would believe them if they did say anything?"

"They could say that they were protecting one of their own," Harry added.

Kara sighed, she really hated when people had a point, especially points like this. There was literally no chance that Pettigrew was going turn up, unless a miracle dropped into their laps.

* * *

><p>Being the youngest of seven children had its unique challenges, but being the only girl in a house full of boys was a huge problem as itself.<p>

Ginny Weasley was the seventh child of a seventh child and the seventh girl born to this particular branch of the Weasley family in seven generations. Granted, she might have been the only girl born in the extended Weasley family for that time as well. It was hard to say because they bred like rabbits, as her Great Auntie Muriel might have said.

The fact was that her mother was driving her absolutely mad, even more than usual. Her third oldest brother Percy was also driving her mad. Her youngest brother Ron, was just being his usual charming self, where his mouth became a black hole where no food could escape.

It was just another chaotic day at the Burrow and Ginny found herself isolated from the rest of the group, yet again.

Hogwarts was supposed to begin its classes a couple of days ago. The only problem was that it was being investigated by the International Magical Court to see if it was up to standards. That process might be done by the beginning of October.

Molly Weasley, in her infinite wisdom, sent a howler to the court. The howler was sent back to her, seemingly unopened.

The howler exploded and Molly's own voice bombarded her own ears. The howler was charmed to be slightly more annoying and obnoxious. Both Ginny and the twins had a sense of self preservation and knew when to hit the deck. Ron and Percy had to have their ear drums healed by a very agitated Molly Weasley.

Hopefully, that would discourage Molly from sending future howlers.

She home schooled the four children going to Hogwarts. Ginny was not allowed to attend these lessons, despite being smarter than Ron and at least as smart as Fred and George.

The young red haired female cupped her hand underneath her chin with a wistful sigh and rolled her eyes. She was too young for this, she was too young for that, and she wasn't ladylike at all. Apparently punching out her brother for being a right git was not ladylike.

Ginny could hear her mother yelling to Fred and George about something or other. What, she didn't know.

'_Oh, I'm actually glad that I'm not in the house along with her for an entire bloody year,' _Ginny thought to herself.

This was a weird last few days for her. Ginny was slightly disturbed by an encounter she had the other night. She woke up and saw that Ron's rat had turned into a man. By the time she had a sense of herself, Ron's rat had turned back into a rat.

When she told her parents, her mother insisted that she was having a nightmare. And her father said that Ginny must have had too much dessert.

Ginny hated when no one believed her because she was the baby, the youngest, the only girl in the family.

"Mum, I need to ask you something!" Ginny called suddenly.

"Ginny, can't you see that we're in the middle of a lesson," Molly said. She was frustrating that Ron wasn't able to get this rudimentary skill right.

Ginny snatched Ron's wand with a sigh and she transfigured his match into a needle with only a second of effort.

"Ginerva Weasley, what did I tell you about taking one of your brother's wands to preform magic!" Molly snapped at the top of her lungs.

"I did it, I should be having these lessons," Ginny said.

"Ginny, you're not supposed to start Hogwarts until next year," Molly told her daughter.

"There are other magical schools that start at ten," Ginny protested. She angrily folded her arms over her chest and scowled at her mother. Anger blasted through her arms.

"Ginny, go, don't come back until I call you for lunch," Molly said, waving of Ginny's words.

"Fine," Ginny said huffily.

Ginny flung the backdoor open and once again, Molly was distracted by yelling at the twins. She was in the zone and Ginny made her way outside.

"Fine!" Ginny yelled when she stormed out, causing the gates to fling open. There was a crackle of thunder when she walked.

If her parents didn't believe her about anything, always made her sit on the sidelines when her brothers did cool things, then maybe it was time for her to leave. They'd be sorry when she was gone.

* * *

><p>Harry and Kara were sitting in the sitting room of the Tonks residence. They had boxes of old newspaper clippings and other information around them.<p>

"I can't believe that we're doing this the old fashioned way," Kara grumbled.

"Well, to be fair, the databases of Castle Peverell are a bit out date, last time it got updated was around 1975, but it's due for its quarter century update," Harry said. He stopped rambling after a second and flipped through all of the clippings.

There was information on all of the trials, all of the murders both solved and unsolved, that might have been attributed to Death Eaters. There was a pretty strong likelihood that a lot of these murder victims were in the same league as Albus Dumbledore. All they had to do was isolate what they had.

"So, what's going on with Hermione Granger?" Kara asked.

"Rose is escorting the Grangers out of the country to the facility where she can get the treatment that she needs," Harry told Kara. "She's likely going to want to stay as far away from this madness as possible."

"Can't say I blame her," Kara admitted. She made some notes, as did Harry. "Umbridge was rotten doing that….well she wasn't the only person that she did that to, was she?"

"No, she wasn't," Harry agreed. He kept flipping through some of the more impressive newspaper clippings. "I don't even know what kind of person she would have grown up into. She'll be different now though."

Harry honestly didn't know what the future held in store. There was plenty of evidence regarding how the Granger incident was handled. It would put Umbridge in the hot seat, but it would likely only put her on probation.

Similar incidents Amelia was having investigated on the other hand, that would make her life a bit more miserable.

"So what did you think of her?" Kara asked.

"Well, I can't make much of an impression with someone who was in a coma the few times I've seen her," Harry replied with a shrug.

"Did you feel a connection or anything?' Kara asked.

"No," Harry said.

"Then, you're not magically compatible, I guess," Kara said. She was going to let the matter drop. Since there was zero chance she would be part of the collective, there was no need for a follow up question.

"Are you going to ask this about every single girl that I casually come in contact with?" Harry asked Kara.

She gave a shrug of her shoulders in response. "Hey, it's Alpha privileges, it's my right to say so."

The two of them chatted casually about a couple of things. They came up with a list of two dozen potential suspects that might be accidentally harboring Pettigrew.

"I don't suppose this is going to be that easy," Kara said. "I mean, we can hardly walk up to someone's door and ask them if they have a pet rat, you know."

"Yes, I know," Harry agreed.

There was a flash of light and Nym nearly tripped when she showed up. Harry rushed over in a blink of light to catch her.

"Nice save," she said, recovering quickly. "You have to watch that first step. You'd think that I would have figured that out by now."

"So, what's the damage?" Kara asked her.

"I wasn't the only one worried, but, what makes you think that there was damage?" Nym asked.

"Because you're about as nervous as a cat underneath an entire room of rocking chairs," Andromeda said, turning up right next to her daughter. "Nym, did you receive it?"

"Yes, mother and um…..I don't know if we should open this right yet," Nym said. "I mean, we should have something to eat first, before I show you this."

"Nymphadora," Andromeda said to her daughter. She extended her hand forward and held the piece of parchment in her hand.

Andromeda took in. Harry and Kara, being as observant as they were, they noticed a small smile cross Nym's face.

"You passed everything with flying colors, and an Outstanding in Potions," Andromeda said.

"Ha, suck on that Snape!" Nym yelled, pumping her fist into the air in jubilation. That caused Andromeda's eyes to widen and her to frown. "Um, I mean….."

"You should be very proud, with those grades, you can be anything that you want to be, and you have plenty of time to think about it," Andromeda said.

"Right," Nym said. She turned to Harry. She was tempted to jump him right here in the hallway, with her mother and Alpha watching. Fortunately, she kept her cool, because she was that awesome. She waited until her mother excused herself. "So, we're going to do the bonding thing this weekend, aren't we?"

"Yes, but if you want to do it now, I'm not opposed to it," Harry said, winking.

Nym smiled. "Tempting, very tempting…..but I think we should technically go on at least one date first before we hit the sheets."

"If you want to," Harry told her. "What do you propose?"

"Well, there's club that just opened in London, a few of my friends were raving about it," Nym said. "Why don't we go and check it out?"

"I'm game, if you are," Harry said.

"Both of you are invited along, naturally," Nym said. Like she was stupid enough not to invite the Alpha of the pack along, she remembered that you should always pay tribute to the Head of the Pack and the Alpha equally. That was in Magical Etiquette 101.

Granted, there was a bit of a drool spot on that book from where Nym fell asleep on it, but still.

"It will be an honor to go along," Kara said. She smiled at Harry.

"It's a date," Harry said. He leaned forward and gave Nym one of those panty soaking kisses.

Nym thought that she was going to collapse with desire. The moment her brain rebooted, they were gone.

"Oh, just you wait," Nym said. She shook her head, plotting her revenge, although she was sure that she wouldn't get away with it.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Out and About.**

* * *

><p>Kara could really not keep the smile off of her face. She was dressed in casual clothes, a black tank top and blue jean shorts. Her gaze fell onto Nym's for a few second. The pink haired female looked at her in an extremely critical manner, frowning deeply. Harry had joined them after a couple of moments.<p>

"I know, it's not the most high class place in the world, but it's not too bad," Nym said.

"Well, it is very relaxing," Kara admitted. Nym nodded in agreement when she looked into Kara's eyes. Her violet eyes met Kara's sky blue eyes. "And you know, not all places have to be high class, especially to have a good time."

"It's about in the middle, where you want it," Harry said. He swept Nym around her waist into his chest. That caused the girl to flinch when she was close to him.

Nym heard that thinking about someone in their underwear was a bit less embarrassing. She shook her head when she realized that with Harry, that didn't exactly help. She pulled back and caught sight of her face in the mirror. Her hair was growing about as red as her face and that was not a good thing at all.

"Are you okay, Nym?" Harry asked her. He looked amused at the look in her eyes.

"Just thinking about something, that's all," Nym said. She looked at Harry. The upbeat sound of the music, at least she assumed it was music, was playing. "Nothing too major, I just got a lot on my mind."

"Well," Kara said, whispering in Nym's ear. "If you want we can help you take it off of your mind if you want us to."

Nym was seriously considering this point. Her heart kept beating against her chest and things were getting more and more intense. Harry smiled when he extended his hand towards Nym and took it.

"So, are you up for dancing?" Harry asked.

"I might step on your toes," Nym warned him. She was not much for dancing, or coordinations. Mostly because of the fact that changing forms caused her balance to be thrown off, but thankfully she improved on that since she was a little girl. When she was younger, she was far more accident prone.

Granted, she wasn't perfect, but she wasn't a disaster area either. Nym was going to have to take that for what it's worth.

"Are you sure about this?" Nym asked him. She could feel Harry's hand wrap around her lower back and pull in her.

"Trust me, I've got reinforced feet, it will be good," Harry informed her.

Nym was prepared to take Harry's word for it. His lips brushed against hers and that was distracting.

"I'll save you two a seat for when you're done," Kara said. She took a seat at the edge of the bar.

She wanted to scope out some potential talent. While there was no one that caught her eye, or Harry's, just yet, the night was still young. The blonde folded her arms and waited. She could hear Nym apologizing over and over again for trampling on Harry's feet.

Kara laughed in amusement.

"Okay, I think that I got the hang of this," Nym informed him. She shook her head. "I'm pretty good at my spell casting, I never miss a target. If I could keep myself hovering above the ground, that would be a good thing. My own feet and my balance tend to be my worst enemy."

"You just need to get control," Harry said, whispering.

"I am in control," Nym said. She realized how much that sounded like she wasn't in control. Her throat dried up. "Do you think that your magic tagged a bunch of other people?"

"Alura managed to seal up the castle so it shouldn't have too much of a backwash," Harry informed her.

Nym snorted in this manner that was absolutely unlady like. Harry just grinned when he looked into her eyes.

"You know, powerful sorcerers like yourself will find a way to lay claim to the best and the brightest," Nym said.

"This is just the beginning, I know," Harry said. "There are going to be a lot of people who don't realize it, but times are changing."

"People don't seem to realize that there are changes, until it's too late," Nym said. She finished the dance without embarrassing herself too much. That really was the main thing. Thanks to her powers, if she wasn't careful, Nymphadora Tonks could literally have two left feet. "I think I should get a drink."

'_Why do I have a feeling this might not end well,' _Kara thought.

'_One would think that magical people would be able to hold mundane alcohol a lot better,' _Harry thought.

'_One would think that,' _Kara thought. She led Harry closer towards her. Nym sat down, after the nice dance. Kara was on one side of Harry and Nym was on the other side. _'See that blonde with the black headband over there?'_

'_She's pretty attractive,' _Harry thought.

'_More than that, she was giving you the fuck me eyes half of the night,' _Kara thought. _'I can see why you haven't figured that out, because half of the women in this place gave you that look. And there are some that might be fun, for a go around, to see how they would work out.'_

Harry smiled and he decided to get to his feet, leaving Kara and Nym to chat.

"So, four wives aren't enough, are they?' Nym asked.

"For someone like Harry, it's never enough," Kara said with a smile.

"Are you sure that you just want more to play with?" Nym asked. She sipped on her drink and watched with interest when Harry showed up.

Harry made his way up towards the girl. She really was surprised to see Harry looking at her. She approached him through. The girl was about a year or so within Harry's magical age, about eighteen or so years old. She wore a black headband, a jean jacket, a nice white top with a button tastefully undo, a pair of tight jeans, and cowboy boots.

"Sorry," the girl said to him apologetically. She spoke in an American accent, where, Harry wasn't sure. "I was trying to figure out whether or not I ran into your somewhere."

"Somehow I doubt that," Harry said. He leaned towards the girl with a grin crossing his face. "I would have thought that I would have run into someone like you."

"Yeah, I know," she said. She looked him over, taking in his body. Kara was right, it was hard to get the "fuck me" expression on her eyes when she looked at Harry.

The woman in question shook her head. She could have sworn that she met him somewhere. It must have been a really vivid dream or something. It was driving the woman nuts, it was like there was some deeper connection.

"Well, if I don't know you, can you at least tell me your name?" she asked him. She looked him over.

"Harry Potter," she told him.

"Sounds like you should be some spy or sorcerer, or something like that," she said. Her eyes gazed over him and the woman shook her head, realizing that she might have put her foot in her mouth. "But….not that I know you well enough, and know you're the type, it's just that I assumed that."

"Well you know what they say about assumptions Miss….." Harry said.

"Stacy….Gwen Stacy," she replied. Her eyebrow looked over him.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Harry asked.

"No, I just flew in from New York to visit some family," Gwen informed him. "I'll be here for the next few weeks, a long vacation. I actually thought about staying for the long term and looking into going into university. Trust me, if you've been to New York, you'd want to get away from it for a while."

"Well, I've never been there, maybe someday, I'd want to travel the world," Harry said to her with a smile.

"That's nice, I'm sure that someone like you….will have plenty of chances," Gwen said. She couldn't believe that this hot older guy was giving her the time of day. To shamelessly borrow a phrase, she just hit the jackpot. "But….I've got to head out and meet some people. I just thought that I'd check out some of the sights."

Gwen realized how bad this sounded when she looked at Harry in his eyes.

"I know this might get me a restraining order," Gwen said, looking at him. "But, if you want…..I'll be in the country for a few more weeks, so if you want to get together for dinner or something, I'd be down for it. Only if you're down for it."

"I'll be happy," Harry said. He was intrigued, especially considering that his magic felt a pull towards her.

"Great, here's the hotel I'll be in," Gwen said to him. She handed him the number.

Gwen fully expected him to throw the number in the trash without another word. She normally was more composed than this. It almost felt like something drew her to this club.

"I'll be in touch with you," Harry said. He leaned forward and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

That caused Gwen to stagger back in a momentary daze, shaking her head. She couldn't believe that she had been drawn into something like that.

"Right, it was nice meeting you, Harry," Gwen replied. She was in half of a daze when she talked to him, shaking her head when she tried to return herself back to a sense of sanity. Her eyes glazed over.

"Likewise to me, Gwen," Harry told her.

Gwen walked away from Harry. He turned around and saw Kara waiting for him. Nym looked rather amused as well.

"I hate to say that I told you so, but…"

Harry gave Kara a hell of a kiss and that shut her up. Kara returned the kiss in one of the most heated manners possible. She thought that she was going to lose her mind with what Harry was doing to her. Her eyes closed when she felt Harry's mouth continue to press against hers. It was causing her to feel really good and for good reasons.

"Well, that worked nicely," Nym said with a chuckle.

Kara wondered if they could find somewhere private to continue this. Nym looked to be about ready to join them, but the problem was that her sense of balance was somehow worse after having a few drinks.

The two of them made their way outside, but Kara's ears perked up.

"Did you hear something?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I heard something."

"Leave me alone!"

"Ah, I think you walked into the wrong part of town, girlie-girl."

There was a scuffle about two blocks from here, and Harry exchanged one of those gazes with Kara. It should be vital that they had a chance to check it out and check it out, the two of them did.

They could see a young red haired girl, of no more than ten or so years, and she was being harassed by a trio of street toughs, that looked to be teenagers, or around about then. Harry couldn't really be for sure though, it honestly was hard to tell.

Kara frowned, they had no right to attack a girl that was so young.

"You know, if you wanted to pick someone closer to your own size, I'm right here," Kara said.

The group of thugs turned around and saw a girl that was as tall as all of them standing there.

"Hey, we want no trouble, but….if you're going to give us trouble…."

Harry caused the man's jaw to break with a simple movement. The man slumped down to the ground, and was put out for the count.

"If you could talk, you would thank me, because I saved your ass right there," Harry informed him.

The other two thugs were taken down handily. Harry shook his head. That might just be a little bit sad.

"Thank you, thank you, you saved my life," the redhead said. She was terrified beyond belief. She looked at the older blonde with a smile on her face. "I owe you, big time, for saving me."

Kara blinked suddenly and she could feel some warm magic fill her body. Harry smiled when he helped her up.

"We better get you out of here," Harry informed her. "Do your parents know where you are?"

The girl snorted in response. "Yeah right, Mum doesn't give a fuck where I am, unless she's lecturing me for not being a proper lady."

Harry sensed an undercurrent of hostility in this girl's house. "Well, some of those injuries look pretty nasty….they didn't rough you up too much."

"No, they're not too bad….." she persisted stubbornly. Harry and Kara could recognize a stubborn girl. "My name is Ginny, and you are…."

"I'm Kara," she told her.

"Oh, that's nice, thank you, Kara," Ginny replied with a smile. She really hated to accept the fact, but she was well in over her head. Running away sounded like a much better idea at the time. "And who are you?"

"Harry Potter," Harry answered, without missing a beat.

Ginny's face blanked and it was at this point, where her brain shut down.

"Congratulations Harry, I think you broke her," Kara told him, with a grin.

* * *

><p>Harry figured that the Greengrass residence would be much closer and it would be a simpler location to take Ginny, at least until they got everything figured out. Ana took one look at her and her gaze recognized the red hair and the freckled face.<p>

"That's Molly Weasley's youngest," Ana told him.

"Why would she run away from home?" Daphne asked. She had been hanging around in the kitchen when Harry and Kara brought Ginny home. Nym crashed out on the couch somewhere on her way home.

"Well, it's Molly Weasley," Ana said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Daphne asked.

"Mum can be a bit of a control freak sometimes," Ginny said. She wondered if she hit her head when running from that goon squad. Ginny shook off the cobwebs suddenly. "Seriously, are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry was kind of amused by this.

"I mean, no offense, but aren't you supposed to be closer to my age?" Ginny asked.

"Maturity," Daphne said dryly.

Ginny nodded, her mother never allowed her children to go through the magical maturity process. She wanted to hang onto her children forever and the sooner they hit their peak magical age, the sooner that they would hit their independence and she couldn't have that. She was pretty sure that Bill, Charlie, and the twins all found a way to bypass Molly and perform the maturity ritual on themselves as soon as they could. Percy was too much of a straight arrow to defy his mother's wishes and Ron was too unmotivated to do so.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely, that would be it," Ginny said. She could have lifted her hand to the top of her head.

"So, I'm sure that your mother must be freaking out to see that you've run away from home," Kara said in a small voice. She had heard her mother talk about Molly Weasley several times.

"Only if she wanted to lecture me about something," Ginny answered. She shrugged her shoulders in response. "You know, they wouldn't notice me if I'm gone. But that's really fine, because it allows me to do my own thing. You would think that they would respect me a little more, when I tell them something. Or take me a little bit more seriously."

"Why wouldn't they take you seriously?" Harry asked her.

Gwen shrugged in response. "Oh, there are a lot of reasons. I guess that it's just that my mother doesn't belief me half of the time. You'd think that she'd pay more attention when I tell her that Percy's rat turned into a man and then turned back. Well, I technically…"

"Hold on a second," Harry said, stopping her. "Did you say that your brother's rat turned into a man?"

"Yeah, he did," Ginny said, with a frown. Come to think of it, it did really sound like an outlandish story, even in the world of magic and mystery.

"Was this rat missing a toe?" Harry asked Ginny. He was beginning to come up with a theory. "Was he scarred in that way?"

"Yeah, he was missing a toe," Ginny said.

Alura turned up at this point and Harry turned towards her. The blonde raised her eyebrow when she showed up. She wondered why Harry was grinning like that.

"This young lady was telling us an interesting tale," Ana piped on in. "She say that her brother's rat turned into a man."

Alura raised her eyebrow at that. "Did she really?"

"Oh, you don't believe me, that's about right," Ginny said. She nearly hammered her fists against the desk and gave herself a long sigh. It was just typical, no one ever believed her when it counted.

"No, we believe you," Alura said. "The rat isn't a rat."

"Yeah, I figured that out when he turned into a man," Ginny said, folding her arms up and giving Alura one of those penetrating gazes. "Is he dangerous?"

"He was responsible for killing twelve people with one curse and faking his own death to send an innocent man to Azkaban," Harry informed her.

Ginny shuddered. She saw her father after he had to go to Azkaban on a Ministry inspection. The haunted look took a long time to leave and it would be in Ginny's eyes for a long time.

"Mother, there is something else that I need to tell you before we go there," Kara said.

"Well, I need to call Amelia and Andromeda so the rat doesn't slip through our fingers again," Alura informed her daughter gently.

"I saved Ginny's life and when she acknowledge that she was in my debt…" Kara answered.

Alura put her hand up and stopped her daughter from speaking. "Say no more, Kara, say no more."

* * *

><p>Molly Weasley was losing her mind, when she found out her daughter had run away. How dare her daughter do such a thing? It made her look like a bad mother. She blamed Fred and George for distracting her and not noticing that her daughter had run away.<p>

She had flooed all of the people in the Floo Book, but no one knew where Ginny is. The problem was that the clock said that Ginny was Home and not in mortal peril. Molly wondered if the charms on the clock were going defective, because her daughter was most certainly not home. Molly searched the Burrow up and down to see where her daughter was, but found out that she wasn't anywhere.

There was a knock on the door. Molly wondered if someone found her daughter, and she was being brought home.

Molly rushed over to the door, and she was surprisingly fast. The woman nearly knocked over a chair when she made her way towards the door.

She opened the door and saw Amelia Bones standing on the other end of the door. That was never good news.

"Madam Bones," Molly said. There were few people that Molly wouldn't dare talk back to and Madam Bones was one of them. She was an extremely terrifying and formidable woman. "What brings you to the Burrow?"

"Ministry of Magic business," Amelia said, her tone was stoic and calm.

That caused Molly to grow pale. She wondered what kind of Ministry of Magic business they could be here.

She could also see Andromeda Tonks standing in the doorway. That caused Molly to be on her guard. Her eyebrows raised when she saw Alura Danvers standing there and her eyes narrowed. That was the woman that ruined the life of a great man, Albus Dumbledore, out of spite. As a single mother, she was not fit to raise that poor boy.

A young man and a young woman was behind them and Molly could see her daughter there.

"Ginny, you're home, get inside," Molly said. She didn't want to say all that much, but when the Ministry of Magic officials here, she didn't want to look back. Her daughter would be grounded for the rest of her life, the moment that she got home. "Is that the Ministry business, my daughter? I thank you for bringing her home, Madam Bones, and for taking such a personal interest at….."

"Your daughter told us something very interesting about a rat turning into a man and back," Amelia said, cutting off Molly.

"My daughter has an overactive imagination," Molly answered. She refused to believe that anything could be wrong in her house.

"Well, as a mother, you should make sure that such events are investigated thoroughly," Alura replied. She kept her ice cold blue eyes on Molly in response.

"We should see the rat, and if there's nothing wrong, then we will all be on our way," Amelia informed Molly.

Molly realized that the sooner that she got the rat, the sooner that the Ministry would leave, and she could deal with her daughter.

Alura knew that Molly might be a bit difficult. She had only just begun to get difficult. The woman turned to Andromeda, who confirmed something.

"There is honestly no way that Molly can contest this, legally speaking," Andromeda reminded her. "She can yell, scream, and pitch a bitch, as the saying goes, but there is no legal way that she can consult this."

"Good," Ginny muttered. She couldn't help but overhearing something, especially considering that it concerned her. "I'm glad."

"I know you are," Kara said. She frowned when she ran her fingers through the younger girl's hair in an absent minded manner. She looked towards Harry with a smile.

'_Thank you for letting me keep her, Harry,' _Kara said. _'Granted, when she goes through the maturity, I am sharing her with you.'_

Molly returned, the sleeping rat in her hands. The rat's eyes opened and Amelia put a sleeping spell on it immediately to make sure that it stayed asleep for real. One couldn't really be too careful in a situation like this.

"It's just a rat," Molly said. "I had it fixed and everything."

Alura struggled to keep a straight face. If this was Peter, and it likely was, he was obviously into his role to prevent himself from freaking out at being neutered. And knowing Molly, she only trusted herself to do that.

'_Then again, Molly Weasley has a lot of experience with neutering other men,'_ Alura thought to herself. Her lips curled into a smile and she shook her head. Was that going too far with things? Likely, perhaps, she didn't really know.

"Just as I expected, this is a man," Amelia said. She waved the wand.

"That's impossible," Molly said.

"You live in a world of magic Molly, you shouldn't be surprised about anything, or say anything that is impossible," Amelia commented calmly. "We will be taking your rat in. If you would like, Lord Potter would issue a replacement."

"Lord Potter?" Molly asked. She realized that this young man was the one and only Harry Potter. She turned to Alura and frowned. "You allowed him to go to the maturity ritual when he was this young."

Molly detested the maturity ritual. She disregarded all of the so called experts and their belief that not going through it when they were supposed to caused damage to their magic abilities and their emotional developmental. Dumbledore insisted that there were no problems with it.

"It is his right," Alura replied coolly.

"I don't know how you could show yourself in public for what you've done to Albus Dumbledore," Molly said harshly. "He has his best interests in mind."

Kara and Harry exchanged one of those looks with each other. It was the type of look that showed that something fairly frustrating was about to happen in a matter of seconds. It made them wonder how insane this woman was.

'_And now, the more I think about it, this must be the first place that we should have looked for Pettigrew,' _Harry thought.

Kara shook her head. _'Yeah, absolutely, no one has their nose up Albus Dumbledore's ass more so than this woman.'_

"We will be departing Molly, but first there is one more piece of business," Amelia said. "Your daughter was rescued from a group of street thugs."

That caused Molly to look a bit sour. Her gaze was onto Ginny's. Much to her surprise, Ginny's hands clapped to her hips and she stared her mother down. She was not backing off from her mother at all. Ginny wasn't terrified of her mother. She was all bark and no bite.

"Well, I hold the Ministry in greatest of gratitude for this," Molly replied calmly. She was going to have a word with her daughter about running away.

"Actually, you shouldn't be thanking the Ministry, you should be thanking my daughter for saving yours from getting her skull caved in," Alura replied.

Molly winced when she heard about this. Surely this wasn't going to go in the direction that she thought that it was going into.

"Therefore, Ginerva holds a life debt towards Lady Potter," Andromeda answered. She was enjoying the sound of Molly Weasley not saying anything for once in her life.

Molly was shocked and that blissful sound of her silence didn't really last all that long. Her throat stopped functioning as much as it should have. Her mouth opened and shut over and over again, the more she tried to struggle to speak.

"Lady Potter?" Molly asked. "My daughter….she has a life debt, to her."

"Yes, to me," Kara replied. She really was enjoying this for some reason. Not nearly as much as Ginny was enjoying it.

"Yes, your daughter has a life debt to my wife," Harry informed Molly.

"My daughter cannot be indebted to another woman, what would people say?" Molly asked.

"That's not my problem," Harry told her calmly. "Your daughter is leaving for us. She's under my wife's protection and thus she's under the protection of House Potter."

"Ginny, would you please get your things, honey?" Kara asked her.

"It would be a pleasure, my Lady," Ginny said. She turned towards Kara with a smile. "You know, it's an honor to be underneath the authority of someone that I actually respect."

While she barely knew Kara, she was sure that it would be a step up from her mother. Getting raised by a flobberworm might be a step up from her mother at this point.

Molly looked angered and she looked towards Alura with a frown on her face. "You can't just take my daughter like that."

"Actually, by law, Kara can," Alura said. "If, you should have been more attentive and listen to your children. Perhaps if it was, Ginny would be safely home."

Molly tried to attack Alura, but Harry blocked her attack and forced her to the ground.

"The next time you think about someone bonded to me, I won't be so gentle," Harry said. Every single bone in Molly's wand arm had been broken, along with her wand itself. "Your husband is coming home, I'm sure that you'll have fun explaining how you lost his only daughter to my Alpha."

The agony ridden form of Molly Weasley was on the ground. She wondered how everything had gone so wrong. The world has about to change. She had worked so hard to gain a daughter and now she had just lost her with a moment of being inattentive.

"And Arthur already has been informed about what has occurred," Amelia informed Molly. "And while he isn't pleased with what happened, he understands the law."

"You should thank Lord Potter for preventing you from intervening with the attempts to uphold the law," Andromeda added. Perhaps this would be the wake up call that Molly Weasley did.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley, Harry and I will take really good care of your daughter," Kara said with a smile. "She'll get the best magical education possible, beyond what is offered at Hogwarts or any other magical school."

She turned and saw Ginny, with her brothers following her. They were protesting things.

"Your father will be home soon and he will explain things to you," Amelia informed them.

Percy blinked. "But, you can't allow them to take my sister as some kind of…"

"It is the law, Mr. Weasley," Amelia said, surveying him through her monocle. "I trust that you respect that."

"Yes, M'am," Percy replied, falling back in line. He respected the law and everything that went along with it. So he couldn't argue this.

"Goodbye," Ginny said to them all. She had an entirely new life.

"I'm certain that we can make arrangements for Ginny to visit once she's settled in," Alura informed them. "Providing your mother doesn't make any difficulities."

"Seems to me like Mum already tried to make some difficulities," one of the twins muttered underneath his breath, seeing his mother's state.

The group left, and at the last second, Andromeda performed a charm on Molly.

"You injuries will heal within the next three hours," she informed her.

Ginny left, wondering where she was going next. It was a bit intimidating being near Lord and Lady Potter, and feeling the magical energy radiating off of them. Ginny hoped that they wouldn't punish her for what her mother did.

Meanwhile, Harry could not be more than pleased. The rat had been snagged and things were looking up in the best way possible. Of course, it was only step one of the entire justice process.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Sirius Business. **

* * *

><p>Things settled down a little bit after the insanity that was. Harry would be foolish to assume that they would get completely back to normal. What was normal in a world that was full of magic and wonder? Harry couldn't even begin to deduce that. Regardless, the rat was captured and the process to get Sirius his day of justice was well under way. The Ministry was in disarray and Harry heard that Fudge was spinning damage control as fast as possible.<p>

The good thing, for Fudge at least, was that he could blame the previous administration for these failures. Technically though, it would be true, given that Fudge was nowhere near power. It was political enough to leave a bad taste in someone's mouth, but accurate enough to work in a way.

Harry had another extremely interesting idea to go through. That idea was namely determining a way to destroy the Horcruxes that tied Voldemort to the real world. The moment the last Horcrux was gone, Voldemort would ceased to be.

The afterlife might not be pleasant for him, but the self-styled Dark Lord would cease to be. To be perfectly honest, Harry wasn't about ready to shed too many tears about any fate that he had.

The problem was that hunting down the Horcruxes in this current state would be an exercise in futility. It could be doable, but it would take too long. They had extremely advanced magic at hand, so there was a way to make their lives much easier.

"I'm sure that if he goes down in such an anti-climatic way, that would be a tremendous shot to his ego," Kara replied. She smiled when she stretched herself out on the sofa. She watched Harry go through the books, chiming in. Daphne was there as well hanging out. Ginny was hanging out in her new room, and Astoria was keeping her company.

"I don't know if I care much for Riddle's ego," Harry said.

"You're trying to find the most cunning way to take him down, smart," Daphne said. "Dare, I say that it's positively Slytherin in a way."

"The house labels from that school really have no meaning to me," Harry answered. "Salazar Slytherin was a cunning man though, even though he made some questionable decisions later in his life."

It was nothing compared to the man who claimed to be the heir of Slytherin. Harry thought that his claim was not entirely valid, given that there was no evidence that Slytherin had any children. At least any he claimed, there might have been a bastard offspring or two out there for all he knew.

"You can really say that for a lot of them, really," Daphne said. "Merlin's later years were questionable as well."

"Yes, and need we remind you about Dumbledore," Kara added.

Harry shook his head and kept flipping through the books. There was honestly no need to be reminded about Dumbledore, because Harry remembered about that many far more than he would care to admit.

"There's no need," Harry answered briskly. He kept thumbing through the pages in an attempt to find something. There was a sound of excitement that registered through his voice. "A-ha!"

"I take it you've found something," Daphne said. Dare she hope that it was something easy that wouldn't give them a headache?

Harry held up his hand calmly and slowly skimmed through the document. He was pretty sure that he was on the right track.

"Peve, could you bring up the imprint that you copied of the Horcrux that was inside me?" Harry asked.

"Just one moment please," Peve answered. There was a flashing light and the imprint was brought up before Harry.

Harry frowned deeply when he saw the imprint brought up on the screen. It would honestly do pretty nicely as far as he was concerned. He compared it to the notes of the book.

"It will take some doing," Harry confirmed to both girls. That caused Kara to raise her eyebrow in response when she looked over towards Harry. "But I think that it's possible that we can do this."

"It would be nice if you give some detail other than vague speculation," Daphne said. Kara gave Daphne one of those warning gazes that told her to back off.

"No, Kara, it's okay," Harry said. His Alpha fell back in line, she was the only one that's submissive to. "Having multiple Horcruxes really is unprecedented. The most anyone has had was two before Voldemort."

"I'm certain that his ego would be very pleased that he accomplished something that few men would dare to dream, then," Kara answered dryly. Harry raised his eyebrow in response at her. Kara backed up and shook her head. "Continue then."

"The problem with multiple Horcrux is that it weakens the magic and makes the ones that were created easier to destroy," Harry said. "Voldemort thought that he would be safer operating underneath a power of seven."

"He was wrong," Daphne commented.

"The theory was sound," Peve chimed in. "But the problem was that the magic that he was dealing with caused a backfire with the Horcruxes that were created."

"I see," Daphne replied, nodding in agreement.

"And which brings us to this ritual that I found," Harry answered. "Normally, if you just had one Horcrux, it would be borderline difficult to find. There have been many rumored Horcruxes throughout history that have gone unnoticed."

"Yeah, I know, I read about them just the same you did," Kara answered.

"More balls that you have in the air, the more your soul gets split, the weaker the magic is," Harry said. "Voldemort's weakest is still his most powerful though."

Harry raised his hands on and lightly pinched the bridge of his nose. He frowned when he shuffled through the notes right in front of him.

"And we have an advantage that most people in our position don't have," Harry said. "We have a good idea what the Horcruxes are and where they are. All we need to do is send out a single for them to terminate themselves."

"So, in other words, you're going to hack into Voldemort's horcruxes and send some kind of magical computer virus into them that terminates them," Kara said.

"That's a way to put it," Harry replied, nodding in agreement. "The problem was, with any magical rituals, it's going to take some doing."

"It's worth doing though," Daphne answered.

"It beasts hunting down the Horcruxes manually, if that's what you mean," Harry replied. "And Voldemort's spirit will cease to me just like that."

"And given that half of the world believes that he's dead, that's just as well," Daphne said. "I can't believe this, the people following him are following one of the things that they had the most. You said that his mother was almost a squib and his father was a Muggle."

"Just proves that the more extreme purebloods are really not out for blood purity, just an excuse to heighten their prejudice," Kara said. She shook her head. It would almost be sad if it wasn't so extremely pathetic.

"I better go check on my sister," Daphne replied.

"I'm sure that she's fine," Kara answered in a soothing voice. That caused Daphne's eyes to shift over towards Kara's. She frowned deeply.

"I know that my sister is fine," Daphne confirmed. "But I know that my sister and the youngest Weasley could be forming the first church of Harry Potter in there."

"I'm honestly surprised that such a thing doesn't exist," Harry said. "As far as I can tell, people treat me like a religious figure."

"To be fair, they do the same thing to Dumbledore, or did before his fall from grace," Daphne replied.

"Fickle people are extremely fickle," Kara said. She would like to say that was a magical thing, but she honestly knew better. That was a people thing in general.

Harry wondered when the news would come back from Sirius's trial. He had done some stupid things, but overall nothing worth having to spend almost a decade with the worst people on Earth. Harry noticed that the papers had neglected to report anything like this.

He frowned, knowing the Ministry, when Sirius got released, it would be a quick blurb in the Prophet, perhaps on about page seven, the Ministry would give Sirius an apology and a pretty hefty payout. Then that would be the end of that.

At least a man would have his freedom that was the most important thing about it.

Harry got a message that the trial would be starting this afternoon and as a person with a share of the Wizengamot, it would be prudent for him to attend. It seemed like a formality.

* * *

><p>Sirius Black could not believe it. A few weeks ago, he figured that he would be buried in Azkaban. There were many prisoners who would wither away to nothing and then they would be found during the yearly Ministry inspections, decayed. The only exception was Crouch's son, because Crouch made regular visits to Azkaban.<p>

Sirius could tell that things were good. The court deliberated on the matter for a while, and Sirius could almost sense a lot of arguing.

'_Stubborn to the last,' _Sirius thought. He got a chance to look Peter in the eye one time and show his anger at the man who had caused his family to be torn apart.

The Aurors surrounding him weren't much for conversation. They were stoic. They were young enough to not be there when Sirius was captured. So as far as they were concerned, Sirius was some mystical boogie man.

'_Hopefully some of the urban legends have put me on par with that Chuck Norris guy,' _Sirius mentally thought to himself with a chuckle.

The doors swung open and Andromeda made her way out. The Aurors stood up. It was obvious that they were not going to let Sirius go.

"It's time for Mr. Black to hear his verdict," Andromeda replied in response.

The Aurors lifted up the chains and escorted Sirius back into the court room. The Wizengamot deliberated for nearly eight hours on this. Or rather, Harry argued with a bunch of closed minded idiots for eight hours.

Sirius could see his godson looking extremely stressed and about to kill someone. He saw Kara standing next to him, holding his hand in an attempt to calm him down. Even though she seemed like she wanted to set someone on fire with her eyes.

Alura meanwhile looked rather calm. Amelia Bones made her way out. She looked rather cordial, but she was used to dealing with these idiots on a day to day basis.

Harry watched, the moment at truth was at hand. Some members of the court suggested that it made them look bad to pass down an innocent verdict now, because that would call every other verdict in question.

'_The sooner we get people out of positions of power the better,' _Harry thought to Kara.

'_No kidding,' _Kara thought.

"After much debate, the evidence has become too overwhelming to ignore," Amelia said. She swept her eyes over some of the offending members of the Wizengamot. One of them was Dolores Umbridge, who was making things extremely difficult for them to begin with. "But, the majority speaks and the majority speaks in the favor of Sirius Black. The charge of treason has been dropped due to the confession of Mr. Peter Pettigrew. One of the counts of murder have also been dropped due to the fact that Mr. Pettigrew has been found alive."

The man himself looked on. His mouth was hanging open.

"The leaves the other twelve counts of murder," Amelia continued. "We have decided based on the evidence presented and the testimony of Mr. Pettigrew, that Sirius Black is not to be held liable for any of the murders. We have also determined that Sirius Black has been prisoned wrongfully and will be compensated one thousand galleons for every year of imprisonment."

The money was just change for Sirius. He didn't care about that.

"Sirius Black will be released after a required physical at St. Mungos," Amelia continued. "Mr. Pettigrew will be sentenced to Azkaban and will receive the Dementor's Kiss, based on the recommendation of Lord Harry Potter."

Pettigrew squirmed. The bracelets he wore prevented him from changing. The Dementors would be happy that they would be feeding tonight.

"Peter, I don't understand why you did it," Sirius said, looking the man dead in the eye. "Was a little bit of power worth or saving your skin for a short time?"

Peter acted like he was about to faint. The Auror guards didn't really look to sympathetic of his light.

"It is by the order of the Wizengamot that Sirius Black has been pardoned of all accused crimes and Peter Pettigrew has been declared guilty," Cornelius Fudge proclaimed. "And I wish to extend the most sincere apologies of the Ministry. All of the parties involved in the initial process of not giving you a trial will be investigated."

Amelia remained stoic. She read that as many people would read it. Fudge was going to make himself look good at the expense of others. Crouch hadn't had much that further to fall, but there were others.

The story that Fudge claimed that he was a hit wizard that was one of the first on the scene was well known. Anyone who cared enough to look into the facts of the matter would know that during that time, Fudge was nothing but a glorified desk clerk and wouldn't be anywhere near the scene.

It did make a good story to entice the voters.

Sirius got up to his feet. He was pretty sure that he would be greeted by the members of the press in all of their splendor. He paused and saw Harry standing there before him.

"Thank you," Sirius said to him.

"I only did what was right," Harry said. "Although, you may not have been in this position if you had thought your actions through more clearly"

Sirius nodded in response. "Believe me, if I could do everything different, I would do everything different. You can trust me on that one."

"I know, hindsight can be a bitch," Harry said.

"That's one thing that I've found out after ten years in Azkaban," Sirius replied.

"So, where do you go from here?" Harry asked.

"Well, I would like to say that I'm going to Disneyland, but in reality, I have to go to St. Mungos to see what the long term effects are of being the grateful house guest with dozens of charming Dementors," Sirius said. "But after that, it's Disneyland. Plus, I'm certain that you have a lot on your plate."

"Yes," Harry agreed. He could hardly blame Sirius for wanting to get as far away from Britain in response to what happened. He had a few things to wrap up and he was thinking about taking an extremely extended vacation with his girls.

The doors swung open and the press was there, swarming in like vultures. Fudge was lapping it all in.

"I made a vow that justice was done and it is done," Fudge said. "And now, Sirius Black is free and the real mastermind from one of the most grisly crimes in magical history will pay. I will look into matters far more seriously from now on."

Sirius could smell the politics coming off of Fudge's voice right now. He was a pureblood, so he could smell it coming a mile away.

"Mr. Black, Mr. Black, a word with you if you please," one of the reporters commented.

"Cumquats," Sirius answered when he tried to brush them off. He didn't even like dealing with the press when he was a law abiding citizen. Well when he was a mostly law abiding citizen. He tried to get past them extremely calmly.

"What are you planning to do?" one of the reporters asked.

"Well, I'm planning to head to St. Mungos to see if everything is right, and after that's done, I'm off to Disneyland," Sirius answered.

"What would you have to say about your opinion of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge?" one of the reporters asked.

Fudge stopped and paused. Sirius turned towards him with a smile. "Well, Fudge is the perfect representative of the quality of politician that you can expect from the Ministry of Magic."

Fudge beamed, not knowing just how much that he and the rest of the Ministry had been insulted.

"Are you glad that you're out of Azkaban?" another reporter asked.

"Oh, you know, Azkaban is such a lovely place, if you take out the soul sucking monsters, the uncomfortable beds, the shoddy food, and the general miserable weather," Sirius said. His tone was biting, as he couldn't believe that he had been asked such a stupid question. "When you take pretty much everything about the place out of the equation, Azkaban honestly isn't half bad to be honest."

The questions that were asked ranged from stupid from insulting. That was the magical press to be honest.

* * *

><p>"So, that's out of the way," Andromeda replied, the moment that she, Kara, Harry, and Alura returned back.<p>

"One injustice is corrected, there are a few more to go," Harry replied. He closed his eyes, stroking the bridge of his nose. "Umbridge…."

"You weren't the only person that wanted to strike her down," Alura said. "She sat there like she was the king shit, but she's getting investigated."

"Hopefully she gets her soul sucked out as well," Kara said.

"Why would you make a poor Dementor suffer like that?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, you're right," Kara said. She folded her arms. "It would give it indigestion."

"From what Amelia has said, there's a lot of evidence piling up against Umbridge," Harry responded. "More than enough to put her away for an extremely long time, and she can't blackmail herself out of her."

To kill her would be putting her out of misery and to leave her living would waste precious oxygen that someone else deserved more. Harry honestly didn't know of a punishment that was suitable for Umbridge.

There were many so called respected purebloods that had their crimes exposed on each day.

"I've got another date with Nym, given that the last one got side tracked," Harry answered.

"She said that she should be downstairs in a minute," Andromeda answered, frowning deeply. Her daughter was rarely this tardy coming downstairs, especially when there was something important.

"Harry, you better go upstairs to make sure that she's not all tied up for some reason," Kara replied. Harry raised his eyebrow. The suggestive way that Kara said that made him wonder about something.

He would find out in a matter of moments. Harry made his way up the stairs. Nym's room was at the top of the stairs.

He opened the door and it was about as much of a disaster area that you would expect from a teenage girl or a young adult. Harry smiled when he shifted some of the debris out of the way. A wave of his hand caused them all to stack nicely off to the side of the room.

There was a fairly luscious bed off to the side. Nym was on the bed and Kara was correct, she was rather tied up at the moment. She was nice and gift wrapped as well ,with a bow across her mouth, her chest, and her pussy. She struggled to raise her head up.

"Kara was right, you are a bit tied up," Harry said. He could see the restraints that hooked her wrists and ankles to the bed. Nym was a bit spread eagled as well.

Most people didn't need restraints, or at least visible ones to tie someone to the bed. Kara managed to have her on the bed and ready to go. Harry eased forward and placed his hand on Nym's inner thigh. He slowly stroked his way up her leg, grinning.

"Oh, you seem to be in quite the tricky position," Harry said. His hand lingered teasingly. He wasn't sure when Kara managed to get this done, but she was faster than a speeding bullet. "I wonder what I'm ever going to do to you, Nymphadora."

Harry's eyes crossed over her body. She looked like Kara, but there were only a couple of things different. For one, her breasts were a big larger. That was proven when they strained against the box.

"You know, you seem ready for the bonding process," Harry said. "What would you say, Nymphadora?"

He chuckled when he could hear her moans coming from the bow that was around her mouth. His fingertips brushed underneath the bow that covered her pussy. She closed her eyes, her chest raising and falling

"I think that you are," Harry said. He brushed his fingers against her with a smile. "I think that I better savor the moment, slowly unwrapping this nice gift my wife left for me."

Nym's mind was screaming for him to take her now. There was a part of her who knew for a fucking fact that Harry knew what he was doing. He hovered over her body and her nipples grew excited beneath the bow.

"Yes, I think that I better savor that moment," Harry said. He leaned forward and kissed her on the top of the forehead.

His kisses slowly moved down the side of her neck. The Metamorphmagus felt herself heat up underneath the bindings.

Her nipples grew extremely hard when Harry was making his way down her. He avoided her breasts. He slowly kissed down her stomach. Taking extra care, Harry lingered at her belly button.

Nym cursed. How the hell did he know that it was a sensitive spot? It was hard to keep her form when she was this much. She went red in the face and her blonde hair had some red streaks in it.

Her breasts grew larger. Somehow, through the sheer miracle of scientist, the bow wrapped around her breasts managed to hold on nicely. Harry smiled when he leaned back. He observed the beauty beneath him. His lips kept curling into a grin.

"Marvelous," Harry replied to her. "And now it's time to unwrap my present."

Harry's tongue traced patterns around her stomach. Nym thought that she was going to heat up. There was no way, whether it be magical or otherwise, that she was going to break out of these bindings.

* * *

><p>The life of Dolores Umbridge was extremely awful. She thought that she had all of the answers.<p>

Black getting out of Azkaban was a minor problem, but it wasn't the end of her world.

There was a flash of fire. She realized that this wasn't her stop. The Floo Network had sent her to a different location than she understand.

"I demand to know who did this!" she bellowed. "I am Dolores Umbridge the Senior Undersecretary of the Ministry of Magic and you are in violation of Floo tampering laws. If you don't surrender yourself, you'll be in serious trouble."

"I don't think you understand where you are, Madam Umbridge," a voice said in the shadows. Umbridge lifted her wand up.

'_Drop your wand,' _a strong mental suggestion said. Umbridge, being week willed as she was, dropped the wand down to the ground. _'Destroy it.'_

Umbridge stomped on the wand. The woman in question could make her do anything that she wanted to. If the woman so choose to, she could even make Umbridge stop breathing, but that wasn't on the table.

"Who are you?" Umbridge demanded.

"Sit down," another woman's voice said. "Have a drink."

Umbridge sat down and she grabbed the glass of red wine that had been presented to her. The woman frowned when she clutched her hand around the glass.

"It's not poisoned, we do not waste such expensive commodities on people such as yourself," another woman replied from the shadows. "Do drink up."

Umbridge held the wine glass up to her mouth. She paused for a moment.

"What am I doing here?" she asked. She almost demanded it in her normal simpering tone. The woman folded her arms.

"You're not drinking up," another figure from the shadows commented. She was almost mocking Umbridge when she spoke.

"I believe that it would be prudent to tell her, my Black Queen," one of the women, the one that caused Umbridge to break her own wand.

"Yes, I would agree, White Queen," the Black Queen responded. "After all, we must not tell lies. Obedience is necessary and compliance will be rewarded."

"And here I thought that kind of thought went out with the Reich," the White Queen answered in response.

"It's fitting, given the Ministry," the Black Queen said. "If only Hitler had not failed at being an artist. How different the world would have been. But I digress."

She smiled in response.

"Drink, drink, Dolores," The Black Queen prodded her. The woman lifted the wine to her lips and slowly drank it. "It tastes good, doesn't it? It's a rare mix, but I find that it relaxes people a lot."

Dolores looked at her, and frowned.

"Not poison, poison would be wasted on the likes of you," the Black Queen continued. "Rather you are here for a crime. Multiple crimes, as you have used your authority to bully those who are in no position to fight back. The daughter of one of our charter members may never be the same again. There were other mages more of non-magical families, Muggleborns as you refer to them in your own simple way, have been brought into the Ministry on trumped up charge. They never left the Ministry and their families forgot them."

"I did what needed to be done," Dolores answered.

"You tried to wipe Charlotte's mind as well, but naturally, each member of the Inner Circle has their own protections that would prevent any kind of mental manipulation," the Black Queen continued. "You have been found to be guilty of malicious activities. The good news is that by this time next week, few will bother to remember you. And out of those who did, your demise will be celebrated."

"You can't kill me, the Ministry will….." Dolores answered.

"No, I don't think that we need to kill you," the White Queen answered.

'_When you leave this place, you are to start walking and you will keep walking,' _the White Queen mentally narrated. _'You will keep walking until you are physically unable to breathe. Even when the blisters rise on your feet, you will keep walking. Do not stop walking for anything. If you reach a busy street, you are to keep walking.'_

Umbridge got up to her feet.

"Give us the file that you have on your person first," the Black Queen responded. "I know that you have collected incriminating information to save yourself from the Wizengamot, but the information that's contained in that file will allow us to finally take your little corner of the world under a firmer hand."

The woman slid the file into the hands of her temporary masters.

"Very well, Dolores, thank you," the Black Queen stated. She looked rather pleased at her actions.

"Who are you?" Dolores asked.

"Now, that wouldn't be in good form to expose our identities to you, just yet," the Black Queen answered. "I'm certain that some will say what we are doing is extreme. But, it's to bring order to the chaotic world."

"Potter put you up to this, didn't he?" Dolores asked.

"Our connection to Harry Potter is more complex than you should be able to comprehend," the Black Queen said. "To look at Harry Potter for me, would be like looking in a distorted mirror. He grows in power, and I believe that we can have a mutually beneficial partnership that will lead to the magical world finally entering into a brave new age. But there is a lot of work to be done. I've played this long game."

"I believe that you have your orders," The White Queen answered. "And I will give you a few words. As you walk, you are not to speak a single word to anyone. If they capture and torture you, you will not speak a single word to anyone. Your mind will melt before you utter a single word, and by that point it will be too late."

The words were reinforced in Umbridge's nod.

"Do you understand?" the White Queen asked. "If you understand, please croak."

Much to her humiliation, Umbridge croaked for her mistresses like the toad that she was. The doors swung open and Umbridge kept walking.

Alexandra Audrey Potter, alias Audrey Evans, the Black Queen of the Inner Circle smiled. Umbridge would never be heard from again. She was truly doing the world a great service eliminating Umbridge and the slow and potentially painful way that she would die would be worth it.

"So, you made contact with him, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes," the White Queen agreed. She had been observing the show with interest. "I'm sure that he already suspected that running into him at the club was not a mere coincidence."

"Yes," the Black Queen agreed. "Our king will be very interested to see what we have to offer and we have a lot to offer him. But, you do have another meeting with him, don't you Gwen?"

"Yes, I do," she replied.

Gwen Stacy was ready to meet him and it was time to offer Harry Potter a spot where he belonged. As the leader of a group of willing and powerful women, ready to serve him. That was something that every man would desire and Harry Potter was no exception to this various rule.

Now that Umbridge had been disposed of, and the International Magical Courts were destroying the Ministry and Dumbledore's Kool-aide drinkers were neutered, things would be a lot smoother for the Inner Circle.

First, they needed to meet with Harry. Without his knowledge, the plan couldn't work.

**To Be Continued.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: The Inner Circle:**

* * *

><p>Amelia Bones finished doing some paperwork in her office. That was the worst part of her job, the constant paperwork.<p>

She was jolted out of the boring and tedious day at the Ministry by a rather loud and raucous cheer emitting from the other side of the door. She wasn't going to lie, she was fairly curious about the cause of it.

The woman made her way to her feet, and suddenly she stepped forward. Some of the people looked fairly somber, but others were struggling to keep a straight face to be honest. The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement cleared her throat in a commanding manner.

"Fudge has resigned from the Ministry!" one of them yelled from down the hallway.

That was one of the last things that Amelia had thought to hear. The woman nearly pushed herself down the hallway. She could hear some gossip throughout the Ministry.

"Yeah, the word is that Malfoy got tagged for his crimes, and since his gold backed Fudge, he's disgraced. Got to give the guy some credit, he's getting out of there before things get too bad."

"Yeah, that's the smartest thing that he did during his entire career," another Ministry flunky stated. There was a smile over his face.

"Did you hear about Umbridge?" someone else asked.

The words regarding Dolores Umbridge caused Amelia to stop. She blended into the crowd, casting a concealment charm.

"Yeah, the dumb bitch was ran over by a train," one of the Ministry workers was saying. "It improved her looks if she asked me."

"How did she even get a job anyway?"

"Well, she was doing some under the desk business with Fudge, if you get me drift," the Ministry worker said, with a wink. "And maybe on top of the desk."

"Oh, there goes my breakfast," one of the Ministry workers commented. There were others that agreed about that sentiment.

Amelia in particular also pulled a face. She had heard the rumors regarding Fudge and Umbridge, but she didn't really need to be reminded of those. Especially so sooner after she had eaten a fair enough breakfast.

She thought about something else, anything else, and she made her way up the stairs to the Minister's office.

She could see Fudge hovering over his desk, and he was distracted by something. Amelia knocked on the door and Fudge nearly staggered when he saw her standing in front of him.

"Oh, Amelia," Fudge said. He was distracted by something in his office.

"Are the rumors true, Minister?" Amelia asked.

"Well, that would be an inaccurate title, Madam Bones," Fudge said with a chuckle. "As of this morning, I'm resigning as the Minister of Magic. The International Magical Court offered me a choice, either I resign or I get sentenced alongside Dumbledore. It was a nasty shock that Lucius and his friends got tagged and I don't think that I can face the voting public after being connected with such criminals."

"Did you hear about what happened with Madam Umbridge?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, dreadful, very dreadful, she's such a wonderful woman when you get to know her," Fudge said. He shook his head. "It was almost like the disgrace of her actions prompted her to walk in front of a train and commit suicide. It just goes to show that she isn't as strong as she would have liked to portray. We all have our own demons."

Fudge seemed about as intelligent as he ever was. Amelia looked at him with an honest glance. She knew how pureblood society looked down on suicide as a means to end a person's life. It was very weak and a very Muggle thing to do as far as many purebloods concerned.

"I will give a speech, but I expect there won't be that much of a Ministry of Magic to control if the court has their way," Fudge added. There was something supremely sour about his tone and while he didn't want to sound bitter, he did sound exceedingly bitter.

Amelia could not help, but sense some other hands into the matter. Umbridge's death would not be mourned by any. As far as she knew, the woman had no family, at least none that would claim her.

The mysterious causes around her death would be exceedingly baffling as far as Amelia was concerned. She had another meeting with the International Magical Court today and the members of the Wizengamot were dropping like flies when the scandals dropped in.

Oddly, the Potter-Greengrass camp, were filling those seats pretty fast. Amelia might have thought it was a coincidence if she didn't believe in them.

"It's a pity, almost," Fudge commented in an absent minded voice. "I would have liked to leave here, retire to a nice and quiet life."

He wondered when his career at the Ministry all went wrong. The entire Sirius Black fiasco was being laid at his feet. He didn't have anything to do with it.

Telling the story about being the first hit wizard on the scene despite the fact that it wasn't the truth may have come back to bite him in the end. Fudge's frown deepened the more that he considered the consequences of his actions.

He would just swallow the consequences and take his medicine. Fudge had a speech to give. The press was going to rip into him for one way or another, so he might as well get out there and face the music.

* * *

><p>"She's dead, apparently," Alura said. She was informing Harry of this. Kara was sitting on the couch a little bit away from him and Daphne joined her. They were all watching Ginny ,who was performing magic without a wand.<p>

She had a bit of a knack for it, but it was extremely frustrating. The block she was trying to levitate crashed down and nearly knocked her off of the top of her head.

"I don't understand how this is possible without a wand," Ginny growled in frustration. She wanted to curl her hands.

"Keep your cool," Harry warned her. Ginny turned towards him, given him the eye. She was keeping her cool. "I know that you get frustrated easily."

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Mum," Ginny said.

Kara leaned over and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Just relax and calm down. You do have a gift for this. We got to you early, so we should help you control it."

Ginny focused on the block, trying to levitate it. All she did was make it explode and send chunks of wood flying in every direction.

She admired Harry's quick reflexes blocking it before anyone got hurt all that much. Kara gave her a stern look that Ginny actually felt ashamed by.

"Why don't you take a break and we'll return to this later?" Kara asked.

"Right, you're going to have an orgy with me out of the world, gotcha," Ginny said with a wink. Kara gave her one of those looks and the normally fiery redhead fell back into line. "Sorry, mistress."

"If you need anything, Peve will get it for you," Harry said. She was in the process of finishing the magical computer virus that he would have to broadcast. It would take out at least all of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

He was certain that there was ever so much the chance.

"Sorry, Alura, what was it?" Harry asked.

Alura waved off his apology. "The news has hit the Daily Prophet, I know you didn't get a chance to a look at it, but Umbridge stepped on the tracks in front of a train. It was almost like she was unwilling to move. At least that's what the Muggles said before their memories were wiped."

"Because, eyewitness testimony always is reliable, as we know," Harry said. He wasn't shedding any tears at the death of Umbridge. "That was a nasty way to go."

"Yeah, you know if you needed to catch a train, there were far better ways in doing it," Daphne piped in with a smile. That caused Kara to cork her eyebrow when she gave Daphne the evil eye. Daphne didn't even blink at all. "You know, we all thinking that, I'm just the one who said it."

"She could have just killed herself to escape justice," Kara admitted. She wasn't about to discount.

"If a magical user would kill themselves, they would use poison to do so," Harry reminded her. That caused Kara to blink quickly and nod. "You know, because it was something that can be created by magic."

"Suicide isn't even considered to be acceptable in magical culture because of how Muggle it is," Daphne said. "It's just like rape in many ways. It isn't frowned upon in magical society for the reasons that you think it's frowned upon."

"Yes, but we live in the society where the victim can be accused of line theft if she is a Muggleborn or half blood," Kara said.

"We're getting off of the subject though," Harry said. There was no question how much the incompetence of the Ministry annoyed him.

"Sorry about that," Kara said.

"Are you really going to want to avenge Umbridge's death?" Alura asked him.

"No, if anything else, I want to pin a medal on the person who did it," Harry said. He wasn't going to condemn a person who put a rather sick woman. Some of the things that she did Muggleborns and magical creatures redefined atrocities.

It was a disgusting self-fulfilling prophecy. You make these people out what you think that they are and they eventually get twisted with what you believe that they are. Harry frowned at that thought.

"I've got a date that I need to get ready for in a little bit," Harry said.

"Oh, with the mysterious Miss Stacy?" Kara asked her.

"Yes, there's much more to her than meets the eye," Harry said.

"You know, she got pulled to you, I'm sure that it's nothing," Kara said. Harry grinned when he cupped the side of Kara's face and pulled her into a kiss.

That kiss caused Kara's heart to go aflutter and Daphne to look both amused and jealous that she didn't get some of it. Astoria wasn't here, and she was glad. Her sister's mentally counting down to her birthday in December was getting a bit annoying to Daphne. It was almost to the point where Daphne wished that December would hurry up and get here.

"And not to leave anyone left out."

Harry kissed Daphne on the lips. The Greengrass heiress felt herself melt underneath Harry's lips and he pulled away from her.

Alura raised an eyebrow and Harry spun her around and dipped her onto the ground as well. He kissed her as well and that caused her heart to speed up with a quicker beat.

Harry left each of the girls smiling and there was a promise of much more than that for later. Right now, he had to meet a beautiful young woman and he was sure that he was going to find out all about her, one way or another.

Stopping to check on something on his way out, Harry turned to the crystal console. "Progress report, Peve."

"Eighty three percent, my lord," she informed him. The brunette flickered to life with a smile on her face when she turned up. "It should be done within the next twelve hours."

"It's worth the wait if it means that Voldemort never darkens the world ever again," Harry said. He took a step back and left things rather quiet.

* * *

><p>Gwen Stacy smiled when she waited for her date to arrive. She wore a snug black dress that was filled fairly nicely by her soft curves. It was only a moment or two before he was going to be arrive.<p>

While they were going to talk business later, there was no reason why Gwen couldn't get some pleasure out of this arrangement.

A knock on the door brought her out of the fantasy of what she was going to do or rather what Harry was going to do to her. She crossed the room, gracefully walking for someone on high heels and flicked the door open.

"Gwen," Harry said with a smile, holding her flowers and a box of chocolates.

Gwen had to admit that she had a bit of a sweet tooth and chocolate was one of her greatest weaknesses. "Oh, Harry, I could kiss you."

Harry replied with a grin when he looked back at her. Gwen's eyes locked onto his and she swayed herself back and forth. "And there's something stopping you, because….."

"I wanted to build up some anticipation," she admitted. She winked at him. "I'm sure that we're get a bit beyond kissing tonight."

"Oh, I'm sure that we will," Harry agreed. He leaned in and offered his arm. Gwen took his arm and gave a pretty tight grip onto it.

"A confident man, I like that," Gwen said. "So, how are you doing?"

"I've been pretty busy lately," Harry said. He was watching Gwen's eyes for any reaction. If he was going to be honest, he half expected her to give up what was happening.

She was going to play the game nicely. Harry was grateful for this, because he didn't really like easy.

"That's good," Gwen said. She nuzzled herself closer towards him. She felt Harry's arm grip up around her waist and pull her in close. That caused the youthful blonde to go comfortable against him. "I don't think that we really accomplish anything if we're not busy."

"No, we don't," Harry said. "So our limo awaits?"

"Oh, a limo," she said in excitement. "And suddenly, I feel a bit bad about you going to all of this effort to spoil me."

"You went to all of the effort to seek me out at the club, on a whim," Harry reminded her. "I'm pretty sure that I can make it worth your while."

"I know that you can," Gwen added. She really hoped that they could lay all of the cards on the table sooner or later. The problem was that she was sure that Harry might have figured something out. It was just the little subtle hints that he gave her. "And I'm glad you didn't think that I was some creepy stalker who deserved to be thrown in jail for being a creep."

Harry cleared his throat and Gwen's eyes flashed over towards his. "There are far worse things than being stalked by a beautiful woman."

"Oh, I don't know, some of them can get pretty possessive," Gwen said. Harry looked at her with a frown and she added almost as an afterthought. "But I'm not one of them, I swear that I'm not one of them."

"If you say so," Harry told her. He gave her a smirk and Gwen wondered what kind of game he was playing now. "I guess that I'm going to have to cancel that restraining order."

Gwen couldn't really help herself, she cracked up laughing. She relaxed a little bit around Harry, but she didn't want to be too relaxed.

* * *

><p>"Well, you know how to go all out and really please a girl, don't you?" Gwen asked with a grin. She enjoyed eating the meal that Harry provided for her. It caused her to become fairly relaxed all things considered.<p>

It was one of the top establishments and very exclusive.

"So, you're thinking about moving over here full time, aren't you?" Harry asked.

Gwen smiled when she downed the drink that she had. "Yeah, full time, I thought about extending the vacation. I just want to get away from the madness in the States for a while, maybe head over to a university over here. I'm thinking that Oxford would be a good place for me to go."

"Well, as smart as you are, I'm sure that you can get into pretty much any place that you choose," Harry said to her.

"Thank you, I'm glad that you think that," Gwen said.

"Hey, it's not that I think, it, it's the truth, I saw your name in several academic papers," Harry said. That caused Gwen's eyebrow to raise when she looked at him.

"So, you researched me?" Gwen asked. She didn't know what to think about this. She sounded a bit bemused.

"Mysterious beautiful girl comes to me out of nowhere, got to see what her story is," Harry said. "But after all that you've told me, it checks out, so we're good."

"That's good," Gwen said. "And as for you…..I noticed that you get a lot of female attention."

"You aren't jealous or anything, are you?" Harry asked. That caused Gwen to shake her head.

"Anyone who is jealous about something like that doesn't deserve to get any," Gwen said. "A strong male deserves as much female attention as he could get. There aren't a lot of men who qualify for that, or a lot of women forever. The best of the best really have nothing to fear, so if they can't get on board, they don't deserve anything."

"Some people have some deep rooted insecurities," Harry said. "And dessert is coming."

"That's great," Gwen said, practically beaming. She licked her lips in a slightly suggestive manner when she locked eyes with Harry. Harry corked his eyebrow when he looked over towards her. "Sorry, I'm just looking forward to dessert, that's all."

"I know," Harry agreed with a smile. He could feel her foot brush lightly against the inside of his leg. "Do you think that we can make it back to your apartment?"

"I haven't had that much to drink," Gwen said. It was just a few drinks. Enough to lighten the mood, but not enough to spill the ulterior motive before she got here.

"Guess you haven't," Harry said with a smile. She placed her hand on his lap and gave him a slight squeeze.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that we can get back to some fun back at my place," Gwen said. "I actually want to discuss a couple of things with you, before you get back there. Some friends of mine are very curious about you. The circles that your mother was around especially."

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"Hey," Gwen said with a grin. She pulled her hand away from his lap to conclude the nice little round of teasing that she was giving me. "You aren't the only one that knows how to do a bit of research."

Harry raised his eyebrow when he locked eyes to her. She blinked and pulled out. Her lips twisted with a smile when he surveyed for a second. "Okay, fair enough."

They would have a lot to think about when they got back. Harry thought that he would have at least one new girl for his collection tonight.

That made him sound like a hoarder, but instead of collecting objects, he collected women. Given the way his magic worked, the more women that he collected, the better things were.

X-X-X

Gwen smiled when Harry escorted her up the stairs. She bounced back and forth when she made her way up the steps. She put herself a bit in front of Harry so he could see Gwen's delicious backside.

He wasn't going to lie, that was an ideal sight.

"I had a good night, but it's about ready to get better," Gwen. She bent over, almost dropping her keys on the floor.

"Well, I hope that you almost dropping things isn't a prelude to how graceful you are," Harry informed her.

Gwen snickered and she prepared to get the key off of the ring. She found the key that she wanted and opened inside.

"Come on, my bedroom is just around the corner," Gwen said. She could feel Harry pull her on tight. She could feel things heat up and the area between her thighs getting a bit sticky.

Her smoldering hot lips found Harry's. Gwen's emotions hit sensory overload with the pheromones Harry was giving off. Her nipples grew rather hard when they pressed against Harry's chest.

He smiled when he pressed his hand against the small of her back and guided her back down on the bed.

Gwen could feel her dress push up and her panties get exposed. There was an amazing heat that pulsed up between her legs.

Harry touched between her legs and drew back with a smile.

"I think that it's time for me to say hello to your friends," Harry said. He pinned Gwen's hands behind the back of her head. "Nice concealment spell…..but a bit too sloppy all things considered."

Harry turned around and the redhead in the shadows appeared. She was wearing some tight form fitting black robes around her and had an unearthly aura around her. She resembled Lily and Rose in some ways, but she had enough differences to make her look like her own person.

"Audrey Grey-Evans, I presume?" Harry asked her.

"Yes, you presumed correctly," she said. "But that's not my only name, my name is Alexandra Audrey Potter."

"Well, this is an interesting story that I'm looking forward to hearing in great detail," Harry said, patiently.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued. <strong>


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